Management of the Feet of Horses. 215 



as is too commonly done. If great lameness arises, 

 let the injured parts receive immediate attention, 

 and keep the animal at rest. Next, place on the 

 feet very light shoes, and when put to work let 

 common humanity prevail. Horses are not 

 machines or steam-engines, that they can go in- 

 cessantly ; if their periods of labour are not pro- 

 perly regulated, and the amount be too exacting, 

 the animal constitution must give way. To 

 those who are willing to recognise early signs 

 of degeneracy, we beg to name cutting and 

 brushing; if they are not attended to, further 

 aggravation is succeeded by serious complications, 

 as broken knees, fractures, &c., to the animal, 

 besides others of an extraneous character. 



Groggy feet, or those understood to be affected 

 with disease of the coffin joint, require special 

 treatment, in order to limit as much as possible 

 the suffering of the animal. There is little of 

 service to be done in a medical point of view 

 except by dividing the nerves going to the part, 

 thus to cut off sensory communication. After 

 such operations great care is required in driving 

 the nails, for if the sensitive parts are wounded, 

 no evidence of pain being felt, inflammation and 

 suppuration follow, and in some cases sloughing 

 of the entire hoof. The smith should always be 

 informed when he has such feet to deal with. 



Groggy feet do not require shoes of great 

 weight: They should be rounded off or turned 

 up at the toe to diminish leverage in the first 



