150 THE SUMMERING OF HUNTERS. 



afraid to walk. Eacli time his foot was set down, 

 the back sinews, of course, were unduly tightened 

 and pained. We at once sent for a farrier who set 

 his feet in good order. Now he was trotted, the 

 stringhalt gradually disappeared, and he w^as all 

 right. No stringhalt at least. We have said 

 gradually disappeared ; the horse trotted up and 

 down for some minutes before he gained confidence 

 in his new level bearings. At the end of a quarter 

 of an hour he was walking and trotting quite sound 

 to the horror of his chagrined owner. Of course 

 the feet becoming ragged, chipped, and altogether 

 out of order, is not the only disastrous result of want 

 of attention to the feet during rest in a box, as we 

 have before sufficientl}^ explained. 



Should thrush arise during the summering in the 

 loose box, we must look to the tan or other matter 

 on which the horse is treading, and see that it is 

 in proper condition — especially that it is not too 

 wet. We next endeavour to cure the thrush, which 

 we shall find easy or otherwise, according to its 

 cause. Thrush is frequently constitutional. When 

 the horse has long legs this is most often the case, 

 and cure is almost impossible, the discharge keeping 

 up in spite of all that we can do, and usually wreck- 

 ing the back part of the foot. Should, however, it 

 be local in its cause, the cure is most easy. In this 

 latter case we need only to clean out the frog by 

 see-sawing very soft rope through its cleft, and 

 introduce some calomel and stufi" it down to the 

 bottom of the cleft with tow or cotton wool. This 



