SANDCRACK, SEEDY TOE, PUMICE FOOT. 97 



what I have attempted to explain, these gentle- 

 men (in practice) find it expedient to order 

 ' mild ' or ' sweating ' blisters to be applied, with, 

 perhaps, an intimation that they will have to be 

 repeated ; and, during the interims, they give the 

 groom a bottle of ' oils,' because they know that this 

 keeps him contented and in subjection ; and thus 

 they, justifiably, obtain rest for the horse. This 

 rest is what they are after ; but it won't, by itself, 

 cure brittle hoof. When Mayhew speaks of the 

 ' show of mastery in which the ignorant especially 

 delight,' the ' ignorant ' is plainly meant to be 

 applied to the owner — or rather to the groom, for 

 he is mostly master. It may be advisable to keep 

 these kinds of things ' straight,' and not make one- 

 self misunderstood on both sides. 



Brittle hoof, when neglected, or improperly 

 treated, often causes still more serious diseases. 

 Sandcrack be it either in the shape of ' toe ' or 

 * quarter ' crack, is a frequent result ; and so is seedy 

 toe, and also pumice foot. They will all succumb 

 to the water cure if the toe at the same time be 

 kept ivell shortened, or rounded off. Mayhew says 

 that ' seedy toe has been much thought about, and 

 fancy has been somewhat racked to account for its 

 origin.' The origin was not far off, and so it got 

 passed over by hasty searchers for some distant 

 cause : it is radically — shoeing. The same cause, 

 as Mr. Douglas states, produces sandcrack. Pu- 

 mice foot is often to be accounted for through 



H 



