CARE OF THE FEET. 131 



hoofs of a horse should be kept in as natural a condition 

 as possible, and this can only be accomplished in the 

 trained or domesticated horse by artificial means. 



Deterioration of the foot of the horse, is inseparable from 

 his domestication and the purposes for which he is em- 

 ployed, unless artificial applications are used, and chief 

 amongst these are moisture and refrigerants — cooling appli- 

 ances. The want of moisture in the foot of a horse causes 

 hardness, which again produces want of elasticity, which 

 is soon followed by contraction or shrinking of the posterior 

 quarters of the hoof, which gives rise to absorption of the 

 sensitive structures within the hoof, ending in ulceration 

 of the bones, laming the horse for life. 



The above is only one of the terminations of dry-hard 

 hoofs. Another is where hrittleness follows dryness, giv- 

 ing rise to sand-cracks or quarter-cracks, chipping, or 

 spelking off of portions from the wall of the hoof, so that 

 in many such cases a nail-hold cannot be found to affix a 

 shoe, and for such condition the sheer is not unfrequently 

 made an unwilling sponsor. Any contrivance then capable 

 of counteracting and preventing dryness, hardness, and 

 brittleness, is to be sought for and applied, and every cause 

 that leads or gives rise to these conditions, should as far 

 as possible be avoided. The former conditions are avoided 

 by stuffing the soles with flax seed meal, made into a poul- 

 tice and laid in the space on the sole, not covered by the 

 web of the shoe. This should be applied at night, twice a 

 week in winter, when the roads and streets are wet, and 

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