HORSESHOEING. 



189 



Fig. 209. 



146, and 147), straw, rope, cork, hoof -cement, etc. Special 

 forms of contraction are distinguished, and are as follows: 



(a) The Contraction of Wide Hoofs. — This contraction is 

 manifest as a concavity or gi-oove in the wall just below the 

 coronet, usually at the quarters, though sometimes extending 

 entirely around the foot parallel to the coronary band (Fig. 

 209). Pain is produced in the contracted area by lightly 

 tapping the horn, but not by moderate pressure with the hoof- 

 testers. 



Green horses witli wdde hoofs, just from the pasture, are 

 particidarly liable to this form of 

 contraction. As a rule, the lameness 

 does not disappear completely until 

 the wall has assumed its natural, 

 straight direction by growing down 

 properly from the coronary band. 



In dressing the hoof and apply- 

 ing the bar-shoe, care must be taken 

 that the lower border of the wall 

 underneath the painful area is 

 lowered so much that it will not 

 receive direct pressure from the shoe. 



(6) Contraction of the Sole. — 

 This is accompanied by an unnatural .^^^^-^^^ toad'^Tai.o'^ 



direction of the wall. Instead of the Kroove in each quarter, and dis- 



appearing toward the toe. 



wall being straight from the coronet 



to the shoe, it describes a curve whose convexity is outward 

 (keg-shaped, claw-shaped when seen from the side) (Fig. 210). 

 The hoof seems constrict>ed (tied in) at the coronet and at its 

 plantar border, the sole is abnormally concave (arched), and 

 the plantar surface of the hoof is considerably shortened 

 from toe to heel. It happens in both shod and unshod 

 horses, with otherwise strong hoofs, but is quite rare. It is 

 occasionally associated A\'ith navicular bursitis ("navicular 

 disease "). 



