THE HUNTER AT HOME. 



169 



that the groom had, contrary to all orders and precedent, 

 been giving him beans. Now, I think no hunter under 

 six years of age ought ever to touch a bean, and if they 

 wait till they are seven before making acquaintance with 

 that vegetable, so much the better. For old horses they 

 are excellent in most cases, but there are exceptions even 

 here. I was decidedly fortunate in the termination of 

 both these cases, and I do not mean to say that such luck 

 is common, as shedding of the hoof is not an unusual 

 ending to the illness, and perhaps dropping of the coffin- 

 bone to follow that. I knew a case in which a mare lost 

 both her hoofs in front, and in time they were replaced 

 by an equally good pair, and she fetched a long price 

 with the new feet ; but this is a very unusual case, the 

 new feet being seldom good for much. I should always 

 advise bleeding in the first stage of laminitis ; had my 

 young horse been bled, I do not think he would have 

 had the relapse which he did have. When the inflam- 

 mation has subsided, blister the coronets sharply all 

 round, and shoe the horse, when he is shod, either with 

 a bar shoe, a Charlier, or a tip anything, in fact, which 

 will divide the weight between the sole, heels, frog, and 

 laminee, instead of making the latter carry the whole 

 weight of the horse, which the common mode of shoeing 

 almost invariably does. Many old hunters suffer from 

 chronic fever in the feet. The action of such horses 

 plainly shows the nature of the complaint, as they go as 

 much as possible on their heels, to relieve, if they can, 

 the laminae. Blistering the coronet diverts the inflam- 

 mation, and these horses, above all others, should be 

 shod as I have just directed. Tips are easier managed 

 in remote country districts than Charlier shoes, and I 

 really think they are as effective. 



