64 THE HORSE. 



uninjured, very severe work on the road," than a 

 healthy one. 



The foot which is hy riature mule-shaped is not dis- 

 eased, and therefore is not lame. We may call it a 

 narrow foot, but we have no right to call it a con- 

 tracted one. It would just be as reasonable to apply 

 the same term to a naiTOw coimter, or a thin shoulder. 

 The word, contracted, should be used only when the 

 parts are diseased. The internal and external parts of 

 a natural, mule-shaped foot are all made on the same 

 scale, and consequently bear such a proportion to each 

 other, that they work in perfect harmony. Not so, 

 however, with the real contracted, or diseased, foot. 

 In its case, the walls of the hoof, from some cause, ap- 

 proximate more closely to each other than they did in 

 their healthy condition, and thus come to press injuri- 

 ously upon the parts contained ^athin their cavity. 

 Tenderness and pain are the inevitable result. If all 

 the internal parts would change their form and size at 

 the same time that the hoof was undergoing its change, 

 of course actual lameness would not follow ; but this 

 unfortunately does not take place. 



The majority of people are fond of a very large 

 foot, but I am certain this is a great mistake. Leav- 

 ing the diseases to which it is exposed out of the ques- 

 tion, I look upon it as an indication that all the bones 

 of the animal are soft and porous. A moderate-sized, 

 neatly-proportioned foot, is just as good a sign in the 



