304 THE HORSE. 



one who considers the thinness of the crust, and the difficulty of shoeing 

 many feet, will blame him for sometimes pricking the horse. His fault will 

 consist in concealing or denying that of which he will almost always be aware 

 at the time of shoeing, from the flinching of the horse, or the dead sound, or 

 the peculiar resistance that may be noticed in the driving of the nail. We 

 would plead the cause of the honest portion of a humble class of men, 

 who discharge this mechanical part of their business with a skill and good 

 fortune scarcely credible ; but Ave resign those to the reproaches and the 

 punishment of the owner of the horse, v/ho too often and with bad policy 

 deny that which accident or, possibly, momentary carelessness, might have 

 occasioned, and the neglect of which is fraught with danger, although the 

 mischief resulting from it might at the time be easily remedied. 



When the seat of mischief is ascertained, the sole should be thinned 

 round it, and, especially at the nail-hole, or the puncture, it'should be pared 

 to the quick. The escape of some matter will now probably tell the nature 

 of the injury, and remove its consequences. If it be puncture of the sole 

 by some nail, or any similar body, picked up on the road, all that will be 

 necessary is a little to enlarge the opening, and then to place on it a pledget 

 of tow dipped in Friar's balsam, and over that a little common stopping ; 

 or, if there be much heat and lameness, a poultice should be applied. 



The part of the sole wounded and the depth of the wound will be taken 

 into consideration. It will be seen, by reference to the cut in page 249, 

 that a deep puncture towards the back part of the sole, and penetrating even 

 into the sensible frog, may not be productive of serious consequence. There 

 is no great motion in the part, and there are no tendons or bones in 

 danger. A puncture near the toe may not be followed by much injury. 

 There is little motion in that part of the foot, and the internal sole covering 

 the coffin-bone will soon heal; but a puncture about the centre of the sole 

 may v/ound the flexor tendon where it is inserted into the coffin-bone, or 

 may even penetrate the joint which unites the navicular-bone with the 

 coffin-bone, or ])ierce through the tendon into the joint which it forms 

 with the navicular-bone, and a degree of inflammation may ensue, which^ 

 if neglected, may be fatal. Many horses have been lost by the smallest 

 puncture of the sole in these dangerous points. All the anatomical skill 

 of the veterinarian should be called into requisition, when he is examining 

 the most trifling wound of the foot. 



If the foot has been wounded by the wrong direction of a nail in shoeing, 

 and the sole be well pared out over the part on the first appearance of 

 lameness, little more will be necessary to be done. The opening must be 

 somewhat enlarged, the Friar's balsam applied, and the shoe tacked on, 

 with or without a poultice, according to the degree of lameness or heat, 

 and on the following day all will often be well. It may, however, be pru- 

 dent to keep the foot stopped for a few days. If the accident has been 

 neglected, and matter begins to be formed, and to be pent up and to 

 press on the neighbouring parts, and the horse evidently suffers extreme 

 pain, and is sometimes scarcely able to put his foot to the ground, and 

 much matter is poured out when the opening is enlarged, further precau- 

 tions must be adopted. The fact must be recollected that the living and 

 dead horn will never unite, and every portion of the horny sole that has 

 separated from the fleshy sole above must be removed. Tlie separation 

 must he followed as far as it reaches. Much of the success of the treat- 

 ment depends on this. No small strip or edge of separated horn must 

 be suffered to press upon any part of the wound. The exposed fleshy sole 

 must then be touched, but not too severely, with the butyr (chloride) of 

 antimony, some soft and dry tow placed over the part, and the foot 



