HOR 



in making tlie spring. From lliis it 

 will be seen that when a horse is 

 alighting liis whole weight is not ex- 

 pended upon an unyielding and hard 

 hoof, but upon a series of bones which 

 participate and divide the shock, re- 

 ducing it to a trilling pressure on each 

 part. It is this complexity of ar- 

 rangements which renders the horse's 

 foot so liable to injuries : when any 

 of the ligamentous connexions or 

 synovial membranes between the 

 bones is irritated it produces lame- 

 ness, which, if not speedily attended 

 to, may become permanent. 



The hoof, or horn, of the foot on 

 the under side is marked by certain 

 projections, which are altered in their 

 form in disease. Fig. 2 represents 



HOR 



secrete horn, and produces pus and 

 ulcers in its place ; this is a result 

 of foul stables. But the whole in- 

 sensible sole may become painful and 

 sensitive from bad shoeing, if the 

 shoe fits ill, compresses any part, or 

 duriag the growth of the nail be- 

 comes buried in it. 



HORSESHOE. The best veteri- 

 nary surgeons are unanimous in con- 

 demning the common horseshoe, 

 from its want of width or web, from 

 being usually too wide behind, from 

 the calkins, or turned-up parts at the 

 heels, and from the clinches being 

 driven in too far back towards. the 

 heels, as well as the want of level 

 and irregular figure. According to 

 the practice of Moorcroft and others, 

 the seated shoe of Osmer is the prop- 

 er form. It is shown in the figure, 



fl 



a healthy sole : the rounded portions 

 of the hoof, a, a, behind where the 

 nail is curved inward, are called the 

 heels ; between these lies the horny 

 frog, b; the inflected or bent por- 

 tions of the hoof, c, c, running on the 

 outside the frog, are called the bars ; 

 d d are the angles of the bars, in 

 which corns occur in diseased feet ; 

 in the latter case the frog becomes 

 contracted, and often fissured, pro- 

 ducing pus (thrush) ; the bars are run 

 together, and the heels, instead of 

 being rounded and wide apart, are 

 contracted to a mere slit. The space, 

 e, lying between the front edge of 

 the hoof and the bars in the sole 

 should be broad and concave. When 

 this external covering is removed 

 from the foot, it is found to rest on 

 the sensible sole and frog, both of 

 which, and especially the latter, are 

 highly vascular and sensitive ; they 

 are, indeed, to the hoof what the 

 quick is to the human nail, they se- 

 crete the tough horn to protect them- 

 selves. In disease it sometimes oc- 

 curs that the sensible frog refuses to 

 402 



a being the under or ground side, and 

 b the upper surface. Its peculiarities 

 are, 1st, a flat, wide surface towards 

 the ground, a, d ; this is made true in 

 forging by gauging on a flat iron ; 

 there is no groove or fullering, which 

 only assists the wear ; it is punched 

 with conical holes with square tops, 

 and clinched to the crust by conical 

 nails, e ; the nails are obliquely driv- 

 en outward, and their figure keeps 

 the shoe fast as long as any portion 

 of them remains in place. The up- 

 per surface, b, c, is bevelled in the 

 fore part and sides, but not behind, 

 so as to offer a good support to the 

 heel ; there is no increase of thick- 

 ness, clubbing, or calkings, but the 

 whole shoe is uniformly thick, from 

 one half to five eighths of an inch, 

 and perfectly level. This is regard- 

 ed by Loudon as a perfect shoe. 

 I Calkings may be made where the 



