CHAPTER XL 



THE FOOT. 



Description — The Barefooted Horse — Some Ailments of the 

 Foot ; How Caused and Cured. 



The foot is a deHcate package covered with horn in vary- 

 ing thickness and hardness, making wall, sole and frog. 

 Besides containing the foot bones (coffin, navicular and part 

 of the small pastern bones), it holds the sensitive laminae 

 plantar cushion and the lateral cartilages. It is thus beau- 

 tifully described by A. A. Holcombe, D. V. S.: 



" The sole incloses the hoof on the ground surface, hav- 

 ing a V-shaped opening at the rear for the frog. It is pro- 

 duced by the velvety tissue, a thin membrane covering the 

 plantar cushion, and other soft tissues beneath the coffin 

 bone. The horn of the sole differs from the horn of the 

 wall, in that its tubes are not straight and it scales off in 

 pieces. The frog is a triangular body divided by a deep 

 fissure, and is attached to the sole by its borders. The horn 

 of the frog is produced in the same manner as the sole, but 

 it is soft, moist, elastic. It is the function of the frog to de- 

 stroy shock and prevent slipping. The sensitive laminae are 

 thin plates of soft tissue covering the anterior surface of the 

 coffin bone. They are present in great numbers, and by 

 fitting into corresponding grooves on the inner surface of the 

 wall the union of the soft and horny tissue is made com- 

 plete. The plantar cushion is a thick pad of fibrous tissue 

 behind and under the navicular and coffin bones and resting 



