FALSE QUARTER. 301 



TREAD, OR OVERREACH. 



Under tliis term are comprised bruises and wounds of the coronet, pro- 

 duced usually in the hind-feet, by the awkward habit of setting one 

 foot upon another, and in the fore-foot by tlie hinder one over-reaching 

 it, and wounding- the other near the heel. When properly treated, a tread 

 is seldom productive of much injury. If the dirt be well washed out of it, 

 and a pledget of tow dipped in Friar's balsam be bound over the wound, it 

 will, in the majority of cases, speedily heal. Should the bruise be exten- 

 sive or the wound deep, a poultice may be applied for one or two days, 

 and then the Friar's balsam, or digestive ointment. Sometimes a soft 

 tumour will form on the part, which will be quickly brought to suppuration 

 by a poultice, and when the matter has run out the ulcer \\\\\ heal by the 

 application of the Friar's balsam, or a weak solution of blue vitriol. 



A tread, or wound of the coronet, should never be neglected, lest gravel 

 should insinuate itself into the wound, and form deep ulcerations called 

 sinuses or pipes, and which constitute qiiittor; and more particularly the 

 caustic, too frequently used by farriers, should be carefully avoided, not 

 only lest quittor should be formed, but lest the coronary ligament should 

 be so injured as to be afterwards incapable of throwing out perfect horn. 

 This defect is called 



FALSE QUARTER. 



If the coronary hgament by which the horn of the crust is secreted is either 

 divided by the original cut or bruise, or eaten through by the caustic, there 

 will be a division in the horn as it grows dov/n, eitlier in the form of a per- 

 manent sand-crack, or one portion of the horn overlapping the other. This 

 is not only a very serious delect, and a frequent cause of lameness, but it is 

 exceedingly difficult to remedy. The coronary ligament must be restored 

 to its perfect state, or at least to the discharge of its perfect function. Much 

 danger would attend the application of the caustic in order to effect this. 

 A blister is rarely sufficiently active, and the application, not too severely, 

 of a heated flat or rounded iron to the coronet at the injured part affords 

 the best chance of success ; the edges of the horn on cither side of the 

 crack being thinned, the hoof supported, and the separated parts held 

 together by a firm encasement of pitch, as described when speaking of the 

 treatment of sand-crack. The coronet must be examined at least once in 

 every fortnight in order to ascertain whether the desired union has there 

 taken place; and, as a palliative, during the treatment of the case, or if 

 the treatment should be unsuccessful, a bar shoe may be used, and care 

 taken that there be no bearing at or immediately under the separation of 

 the horn. This will be best effected, if the crust be thick and the quarters 

 strong, by paring off a little of the bottom of the crust at the part, so that 

 it shall not touch the shoe ; but if the foot be weak, an indentation, or 

 hollow, should be made in the shoe. Strain or concussion on the imme- 

 diate part will thus be avoided, and in sudden or violent exertion the crack 

 will not be so likely to extend upward again to the coronet, when whole 

 and sound horn has begun to be formed there. 



In some cases false quarter assumes a less injurious character. The 

 horn grows down whole, but the ligament is unable to secrete that which 

 is perfectly healthy, and therefore there is a narrow slip of horn of a different 

 and fighter colour. This is sometimes the best result that can be procured 

 when the surgeon has been able to obliterate the absolute crack or separation. 

 It is, however, to be regarded as a defect, not sufficient to condemn the 



