98 Management and Treatment of the Horse. 



an angle of forty-five, differing, however, in many 

 horses to the extent of the angle ; still in a 

 healthy foot it is about the fourth part of a semi- 

 circle. When the crust has a greater degree of 

 obliquity, it is said that the crust has ^' fallen in,'' 

 and when the sole is too flat, it is said to be 

 pumiced or convex. If the front be more up- 

 right than the above angle, it is a sure sign of a 

 contracted foot with the sole too concave. When 

 the crust is deep at the heel, it is a foot liable to 

 contraction, thrush, sand-crack, and inflammation. 

 The pastern will be found too upright, and the 

 horse have a very unpleasant action. If, on the 

 other hand, the crust diminishes too rapidly from 

 front to back and the heels are low, this is always 

 accompanied by too great obliquity of the pastern, 

 producing a weakness in the joint and liability to 

 sprain the back sinew. The foot itself will be 

 weak and have a tendency to that hidden com- 

 plaint called navicular joint disease. The general 

 thickness of the crust in front is about half an 

 inch, becoming thinner at the quarters and heels. 

 This will show the necessity for shoeing-smiths 

 being adepts at driving nails, seeing the small 

 space they have to nail to. The crust is thinner 

 and a little higher up on the inside than on the 

 outside quarters. This is another wise provision 

 of Nature, because being placed under the inner 

 splint bone more of its weight rests upon the 

 inside than the outside, consequently it is enabled 

 to expand more, and thus, by its elasticity assists 

 in lessening the force of concussion. The crust 

 is not liable to much variation in thickness, until 



