286 FOKGING AND CUTTING. 



subtarsal ligament or of the liexor tendons, it is considered 

 desirable, by giving calkins, to relieve the tendinous structures 

 of a portion of their load. 



A light concave fore shoe should be used in conjunction with 

 the ' spur ' shoe. If the fore-feet are weak or fleshy, and a 

 shoe with good cover is indispensable, it sliould be dished on 

 the c^round surface. 



2. Cutting ok Stuiking. 



A horse is said to strike or cut when the coronet, fetlock, 

 or other part of the limb is touched by the foot of the opposite 

 side during movement. 



A graduated series of injuries is recognised : ' brushing,' 

 when the hair is roudiened or soiled with mud ; ' cuttinsj,' or 

 ' interfering,' when the skin is cut through, and bleeding 

 ensues ; ' striking,' or ' buffing,' when the fetlock is struck 

 and bruised with the flat of the opposite foot, but without a 

 wound being produced. The terms, however, are employed in 

 different senses by different persons and in different parts of 

 the country, so that the above definitions must be regarded as 

 relative only, not absolute. 



Injuries are thus produced on the inner side of the coronet, 

 of the fetlock joint, or sometimes, in front limbs, as high as the 

 knee. The last condition receives a special name, ' speedy- 

 cuttino'.' Lameness is a common result. 



The injury may vary from mere roughening of the hair 

 and slight abrasion of the epidermis to severe bruising, 

 etc., causing well-marked lameness. The periosteum may 

 become inflamed, leaving thickenings and exostoses ; some- 

 times septic material obtains entrance, and causes violent 

 inflammation of the subcutaneous connective tissue, with 

 abscess. 



The causes of striking may be referred either to faulty 

 shoeing of the striking foot or of the foot struck, to fatigue 

 (from whatever source arising), to swellings about the coronet 

 or fetlock, to the conformation of the limbs, or to the use to 

 which the horse is put. Horses with well-formed limbs do 

 not strike if properly shod ; those with turned-in toes occa- 



