PRICK IN THE SOLE OR CRUST. 303 



tlie animal, may have been irreparably injured or destroyed, or to save these 

 parts from the destructive effect of torturing caustics. When any portion 

 of the bone can be felt by the probe the chances of success are diminished, 

 and the owner and the operator should pause. When the joints are exposed 

 the case is hopeless ; yet, in a great many instances, the bones and the 

 joints are exposed by the remedy and not by the disease. One hint may 

 not be necessary to the practitioner, but it may guide the determination and 

 hopes of the owner : if, when a probe is introduced into the fistulous orifice 

 on the coronet, the direction of the sinuses or pipes is backward, there is 

 much probability that a perfect cure may be effected ; but if the direction of 

 the sinuses be forward, the cure is at best doubtful. In the first instance, 

 there is neither bone nor joint to be injured ; in the other, the more im- 

 portant parts of the foot are in danger, and the principal action and con- 

 cussion are found. 



Neglected bruises of the sole sometimes lay the foundation for quittor. 

 When the foot is flat, it is very liable to be bruised if the horse is ridden fast 

 over a rough and stony road; or a small stone, insinuating itself between 

 the shoe and the sole, or clipped and confined by the curvature of the shoe, 

 will frequently lame the horse. The heat and tenderness of the part, the 

 occasional redness of the horn, and the absence of puncture, will clearly 

 mark the bruise. The sole must then be thinned, and particularly over the 

 bruised part, and, in neglected cases, it must be pared even to the quick, in 

 order to ascertain whether the inflammation has run on to suppuration. 

 Bleeding at the toe will be clearly indicated, — poultices, — and such other 

 means as have either been described under " Inflammation of the Feet," 

 or will be pointed out under the next head. The principal causes of bruises 

 of the foot are leaving the sole too much exposed by means of a narrow- 

 webbed shoe, or the smith paring out the sole too closely, or the pressure 

 of the shoe on the sole, or the introduction of gravel or stones between the 

 shoe and the sole. 



PRICK OR WOUND IN THE SOLE OR CRUST. 



This is the most frequent cause of quittor. It is evident that the sole is 

 very liable to be wounded by nails, pieces of glass, or even sharp flints, but 

 much more frequently the fleshy little plates are wounded by the nail in 

 shoeing ; or if the nail does not penetrate through the internal surface of 

 the crust, it is driven so close to it that it presses upon the fleshy parts 

 beneath, and causes irritation and inflammation, and at length ulceration. 

 When a horse becomes suddenly lame, after the legs have been carefully 

 examined and no cause of lameness appears in them, the shoe should be 

 taken off. In many cases the offending substance will be immediately de- 

 tected, or the additional heat felt in some part of the foot will point out the 

 seat of injury ; or, if the crust be rapped with the hammer all round, the 

 flinching of the horse wiU discover it; or pressure with the pincers will 

 render it evident. 



When the shoe is removed for this examination the smith should never 

 be permitted to wrench it off, but each nail should be drawn separately, and 

 examined as it is drawn, when some moisture appearing upon it will not 

 unfrequently reveal the spot at which matter has been thrown out. In the 

 fore-foot the injury will generally be found on the inner quarter, and on the 

 hind-feet near the toe, these being the thinnest parts of the fore and hind- 

 feet. 



Sudden lameness occurring within two or three days after the hoibc has 

 been shod will lead us to suspect that the smith has been in fault ; yet no 



