CONTRACTION. 295 



the propriety of stoppinp: the feet. The intellif^ent and careful groom will 

 not omit it a single night. Cow-dung, with a small portion of clay to 

 give it consistence, is a common and very good stopping : a better one is 

 a piece of thick felt cut to the shape of the sole and soaked in water ; this 

 may be procured, ready prepared for use, at any saddler's. The common 

 stopping of tar and grease is peculiarly objectionable, closing the pores 

 of the feet, and ultimately increasing the dryness and brittleness which it 

 was designed to remedy. 



The usual management of the farmer's horse, which is often turned out 

 after his daily task is exacted, or at least whose work returns with the 

 day, and is generally performed where the feet are exposed to moisture, is 

 an excellent preventive against contraction. 



Some intelligent persons have complained much of the influence of 

 litter. If the horse stand many hours in the day with his foot embedded 

 in straw, it is supposed that the hoof must be unnaturally heated ; and it 

 is said that the horn will curl and contract under the influence of heat. It 

 is seldom, however, that the foot is so surrounded by the litter, that its 

 heat will be sufficiently increased to produce this effect on the thick horn. 

 The heels, sometimes embedded in straw, and then receiving the current of 

 cold air which blows in from the door, may suffer, and grease may result, 

 but the foot is not sufficiently long or deeply covered by the litter to 

 produce a temperature high enough to warp the hoof. We confess, there- 

 fore, that we are not the disciples of those who would, during the day, 

 remove all litter from under the horse ; we do not like the naked and 

 uncomfortable appearance of the stable ; and we cannot forget the difference 

 in our own feelings, whether we stand for an hour or two on the hard 

 stones", or a soft carpet, and especially whether we beat our feet upon the 

 one or the other. We are disposed to say that humanity and a proper 

 care of the foot of the horse should induce us to keep some litter under 

 him during the day ; but his feet need not sink so deeply in it that their 

 temperature should be much affected. 



Thrushes are much oftener the consequence than the cause of contrac- 

 tion. The horny frog, yielding to the pressure of the contracted quarters, 

 is diminished in size, and the lower portion of the fleshy frog becomes 

 imprisoned, irritated, and inflamed, and pus or matter is discharged at 

 the cleft ; yet there are many heels in the last stage of contraction, which 

 are not thrushy. On the other hand, thrush never long existed, accom- 

 panied by much discharge, without producing a disposition to contraction ; 

 therefore, thrush may be considered as both the cause and consequence of 

 contraction. 



The removal of the bars takes away a main impediment to contraction. 

 Their use in assisting the expansion of the foot has been already stated, and 

 should a disposition to contraction be produced by any other cause, the 

 cutting away of the bars would hasten and aggravate the evil ; but the loss 

 of the bar would not of itself produce contraction. 



The contraction, however, which is connected with permanent lameness, 

 although increased by the circumstances which we have mentioned, usually 

 derives its origin from a different source, and from one which acts violently 

 and suddenly. Inflammation of the little plates covering the coffin bone 

 is the most usual cause ; and a degree of inflammation not sufficiently 

 intense to be characterised as acute founder, but quickly leading to sad 

 results, may and does spring from causes almost unsuspected. (Tl^ere is 

 one fact to which we have alluded, and that cannot be doubted, t^Sf con- 

 traction is exceedingly rare in the agricultural horse, but frequently occurs 



