HINTS TO THE PURCnASERS OF HORSES. 385 



Sandcrack is an inipoi-tant defect, Avhen It runs longitudinally- 

 from the coronet into the hoof, and is so deep as to affect the 

 sensible parts of the foot : sometimes, however, it is very super- 

 ficial, or in a horizontal direction, and perhaps too trifling to 

 deserve notice. It should be recollected, however, that these 

 trifling cracks in the hoof indicate an unnatural dryness of the 

 horn, and, consequently, a tendency to sandcrack ; therefore, 

 when such a horse is purchased, proper means should be em- 

 ployed to improve the state of the hoof. 



There is no part of tlie horse which requires a more careful 

 inspection than the foot ; for it sometimes happens, that lame- 

 ness is for a time removed by rest, or a run at grass, and may 

 not again appear, until the horse is put to work. Horses that 

 are foundered are generally much relieved, and sometimes 

 apparently cured, by running at grass; but the lameness invari- 

 ably returns when the horse is Avorked or kept in a stable. 



A horse's foot may have suflfered so far by bad shoeing, im- 

 proper management, or some unknown cause, that although 

 lameness may not have taken place at the time of purchase, yet, 

 from its ai)pearance, it may reasonably be suspected that he will 

 soon become lame. Should such a liorse be purchased with the 

 warranty of soundness, he could not perhaps be legally returned, 

 if lameness take place two or three weeks afterwards ; as the 

 seller would be able to prove, that the horse had not been lame 

 up to the time he was purchased. It may be said, perhaps, that 

 the defect in the foot was observed at that time ; but it is well 

 known that we rarely meet with a horse, at the age of six, 

 whose feet are not more or less imperfect, and that a consider- 

 able alteration in form sometimes takes place without causing 

 lameness. 



Cuttimj is a defect often met with ; and when it is consider- 

 able — -that is, when the scar on the inside is large, the parts sur- 

 rounding thickened and enlarged, and if it appears also to have 

 been recently wounded — it may be deemed a serious imperfection. 

 Cutting on the inside, and immediately below the knee-joint, or 

 the sjieedjj cut, as it is termed, is also a material defect, as it some- 

 times causes a horse to fall suddenly in trotting or galloping. 



The back sinews are next to be examined, by passing the 

 hand down the back part of the leg. If the tendon or sinew 

 can be d'.stinctly felt, with the suspensory ligament, which lies 

 immediately before it ; if the tendon feel clean and free from 

 swelling ; and if the leg, on a side view, appear flat, clean, and 



but by no means so well as when they are removed. If the corns are slight 

 they do not form a sufficient objection to an otherwise good horse; but if 

 they are extensive, and particularly if the heels are likewise weak, the horse 

 should be rejected. — Ed. 



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