398 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



by the heel, especially in those cases where the toes are turned out. It 

 may likewise be delivered by the middle of the crust, when the clinches, 

 if not properly laid down, occasion nasty wounds in the skin. 



It is very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to prevent this faulty 

 action. Horses with long pasterns, whose toes turn out, are perhaps the 

 least amenable to treatment. In these cases the injury may be inflicted 

 by the inner part of the toe or by the heel, against both of which some 

 provision should be made. A shoe with the inner branch straight, set well 

 under at the heel, and well rounded off at the inside toe, is most likely to 

 minimize the trouble if it does not altogether remove it. 



Where this fails, a three-quarter shoe (fig. 408) with the toe similarly 

 dealt with may be tried. 



In old horses work should be apportioned to their powers, and young 

 ones should be carefully conditioned and trained in the various evolutions 

 they will be required to perform before being sent to active work. The 

 weak must be strengthened by good living, and the sick withdrawn from 

 work. 



OVERREACH 



This results when the toe of the hind-foot strikes the heel or coronet of 

 the fore one on the same side. Somewhat serious wounds are occasionally 



Fig. 406. Overreaching 

 A, Point of Contact. Toe of Shoe with rounded inner edge. 



inflicted by this movement, and horses are not only lamed, but riders are 

 sometimes dismounted, and suffer serious injuries in consequence. 



The damage to the fore-foot is inflicted by the inner margin of the toe 

 of the hind shoe, and not, as is frequently supposed, by the front or outer 

 edge. 



This accident is favoured by that peculiar conformation in which a short 

 body is set upon long legs. Animals low in front are also more predisposed 

 to overreach than others of the reverse type, and the danger is augmented 

 when the hind-feet have been allowed to grow unduly long. 



It mostly results when horses galloping over heavy land fail to get 

 their fore-feet clear away from the ground before being overtaken and 



