THE FOOT. 95 



water, to which may be added a few drops of carbohc acid, 

 or some powdered charcoal. The dressing should be changed 

 daily, and, after every vestige of decayed substance is re- 

 moved, the cleft of the fi^og and grooves on its edges should 

 be cleaned and packed with oakum, held in place by leather 

 nailed on with the shoe. Before packing cover the place 

 with a good coat of sulphate of zinc, pressing well in. 

 Horses especially liable to thrush may need to be protected 

 in the stable by the use of boots. Sometimes other diseases 

 combine with thrush, making a cure seem impossible. 



To determine lameness in a horse offered for sale lead the 

 animal onto a hard road and examine him fn m various po- 

 sitions, from before and behind, and from each side, to locate 

 the lameness. The head bobs to that side of the body which 

 is all right. If the lameness is in the left fore leg, the head 

 drops to the right. In posterior lameness the weight of the 

 body drops on the sound leg. That is, when the dropping 

 of the hip or nod of the head occur on the right side of the 

 body at the time the feet of that side strike the ground, the 

 horse is lame on the left side. If the motions are to the 

 near side when these feet strike the ground, the lameness is 

 on the off side. The foot is more frequently the seat of 

 lameness than any other part. 



A slow trot is the best gait to determine lameness. He 

 will show it more, and he should be trotted when first taken 

 from the stable. Watch him coming out of the stable — 

 some lamenesses are over after the first few steps. Some 

 forms of lameness are only noticeable after a hard day's work 

 or a hard drive. Never buy a horse until you see how he 

 stands a hard day's work. 



