TREAD AND OVER-REACH. 415 



nary work. Wlien, liowever, tlie Lorn is grown an incli from the coronet, 

 the horse may be turned out — the foot being well defended by the pitch 

 plaster, and that renewed as often as it becomes loose — a bar-shoe being 

 worn, chambered so as not to press upon the hoof immediately under the 

 crack, to prevent which the crust should be also pared away in a small 

 lialf-moon form, and that shoe being taken off, the sole pared out, and 

 any bulbous projection of new horn being removed once in every three 

 weeks. 



To remedy the undue brittleness of the hoof, there is no better appli- 

 cation than an ointment composed of one part of tar to two of lard, 

 applied to the crust daily, the sole being covered at the same time mth the 

 common cow-dung or felt stopping. 



TREAD AND OVER-REACH. 



Under these terms are comprised bruises and wounds of the coronet, 

 inflicted by the other feet. 



A TREAD is said to have taken place when the inside of the coronet of 

 one foot is struck by the calkin of the shoe of the other, and a bruised or 

 contused wound is inflicted. The coronary ring is highly vascular exter- 

 nally, and within it is cartilaginous ; the blow, therefore, often produces 

 much pain and hsemorrhage, and contusion and destruction of the parts. 

 The wound may appear to be simple, but it is often of a sadly compHcated 

 nature, and much time and care will need to be expended in repairing the 

 mischief. Mr. Percivall, in his 'Hippopathology,' very accurately states 

 that ' the wound has, in the first place, to cast off a slough, consisting of 

 the bruised, separated, and deadened parts ; then the chasm thereby ex- 

 posed has to granulate ; and, finally, the sore has to cicatrise and form 

 new horn.' 



A tread, or wound of the coronet, must never be neglected, lest gravel 

 should insinuate itself into the wound, and form deep ulcerations, called 

 sinuses or pipes, and which constitute quittor. Although some mildly 

 stimulating escharotic may be occasionally required, the caustic, too fre- 

 quently used by farriers, should in the early stage be carefully avoided, 

 not only lest quittor should be formed, but lest the coronary Hgament 

 should be so injui'ed as to be afterwards incapable of secreting perfect 

 horn. When properly treated, a tread is seldom productive of much 

 injury. K the dirt is well washed out of it, and a pledget of tow, dipped 

 in Friar's balsam, b ound over the wound, it will, in the majority of cases, 

 speedily heal. Should the bruise be extensive or the wound deep, a 

 poultice may be applied for one or two days, and then the Friar's balsam, 

 or digestive ointment. Sometimes a soft tumour will form on the part, 

 which will be quickly brought to suppru-ation by a poultice ; and when 

 the matter has run out, the ulcer will heal by the appHcation of the Friar's 

 balsam, or a weak solution of blue vitriol ; but supposing that, instead of the 

 wound healing readily, a foul unhealthy sinus should remain, pouring- 

 out a foul sanious discharge, then more active measures are imperatively 

 demanded, and nothing short of an active caustic, to produce a thorough 

 slough of the diseased sui'face, will effect a cure. 



An OVKR-REACH is a tread upon the heel of the coronet of the fore-foot 

 by the shoe of the corresponding hind- foot, and either inflicted by the toe 

 or by the inner edge of the inside of the shoe. The preventive treatment 

 is the bevelling, or rounding off, of the inside edge or rim of the hind- 

 shoes. The cure is the cutting away of the loose parts, the appHcation 

 of Friar's balsam, and protection from the dirt. 



There is a singular species of over - reaching, termed forging or 



CLICKING, 



