296 THE HORSE. 



in the stable of the g-entleman and the coach proprietor: it is rare, where 

 the horse is seemingly neglected and badly shod ; and frequent, where 

 every care is tak^ of the animal, and the shoes are unexceptionable and 

 skilfully appliedrj Something may depend upon the breed. Blood 

 horses are part iotmirly liable to contraction 3 — not only is the foot naturally 

 small, but it is disposed to become narrov/er at the heels. The broad, flat 

 foot of the cart-horse is subject to diseases enough, but contraction is 

 seldom one of the number. In horses of equal blood, not a little seems 

 to depend upon the colour, and the dark chesnut is proverbially prone to 

 contraction. 



There is, however, something in the management or use of the horse 

 that lies at the root of the evil, and that is not difficult to discover or to 

 understand. The over-feeding of many horses disposes them to inflam- 

 mation, and with this disposition they are suffered to stand inactive in the 

 stable for one, or two, or three days : the exquisitely sensible little plates 

 are scarcely elongated ; they are becoming unused to exertion ; they are 

 diminishing from lack of use. The horse is then taken from the stable, and, 

 without preparation, is galloped over the stones, or is ridden far and fast 

 on the road or in the field. Is it to be wondered at, if the sudden concus- 

 sion of the whole foot and the violent elongation of the little plates should 

 produce sufficient pain and inflammation to interfere with the function, 

 and alter the structure of various parts of the foot? From' the alteration 

 of structure or partial separation between the external and internal portions 

 of the foot, the expansion of the quarers becomes limited, or ceases, and 

 in consequence of this, the crust becomes contracted and falls in. 



Whatever be the cause of that rapid contraction or narrowing of the 

 heels which is accompanied by severe lameness, the symptoms may be 

 easily distinguished. While standing in the stable, the horse will point 

 with, or place forward, the contracted foot, or, if both feet be affected, he 

 will alternately place one before the other: when he is taken out of the stable, 

 he Vv'ill not, perhaps, exhibit the decided lameness which characterizes sprain 

 of the flexor tendon, or some diseases of the foot ; but his step will be pecu- 

 liarly short and quick, and the feet will be placed gently and tenderly on 

 the ground, and scarcely lifted from it in the walk or the trot. It would 

 seem as if the slightest irregularity of surface would throw the animal 

 down, and so it threatens to do, for he is constantly tripping and stumbling. 

 If the fore-feet are carefully observed, one or both of them will be narrowed 

 across the quarters and towards the heels. In a few cases, the whole of the 

 foot appears to be contracted and shrunk ; but in the majority of instances, 

 while the heels are narrower, the foot is longer. The contraction appears 

 sometimes in both, heels ; at other times in the inner heel only, or, if both 

 be affected, the inner one is wired in the most ; either generally from the 

 coronet to the base of the foot, or, in some instances, only or principally 

 at the coronet; oftener near the' base of the foot; but in most cases the 

 hollow is greatest about mid-way between the coronet and the bottom of the 

 foot. This irregularity of contraction, and uncertainty as to the place of it, 

 prove that it is some internal disorganization, the seat of which varies with 

 the portion of the attachment between the hoof and the foot which was 

 principally strained or injured. In every recent case the contracted part 

 will be hotter than the rest of the foot, and the sole will, in the majority of 

 cases, be unnaturally concave, and that sometimes to a very great degree. 

 Of the treatment of contraction attended with lameness we have very 

 little to say that will be satisfactory ; numberless have been the mechanical 

 contrivances to oppose the progress of contraction, or to force back the 



