THE HORSE : ITS KEEP AND MANAGEMENT. 8 1 



cracks. When this is the case, if not properly attended to, 

 the crack soon becomes very deep, so much so that the 

 animal is often laid up with it. Almost in every case where 

 the heel cracks there is a discharge from it, and if that is 

 neglected the hair gets matted every time the heel becomes 

 wet. This of course makes the heel a great deal worse, 

 and the smell grows very offensive if it is neglected for long. 

 When it breaks out in the heels upon the hind legs it 

 sometimes turns into quite a humoury mass. 



I have known this complaint to break out in a cart 

 horse and grow into a greasy heel. That is to say, the leg 

 has swollen very much and the heel has become full of 

 humour. When a horse once gets a greasy heel very badly, 

 it is seldom cured. I have seen them swell to three times 

 the size they should be. If a horse has no humour in it, 

 greasy heels will never follow a cracked heel, although they 

 may be very sore and troublesome. Some horses are 

 naturally full of humour in the legs. I have known mares 

 which have a greasy heel — which some people call a 

 swollen leg — throw some colts with legs equally as bad. In 

 such cases as these it is in the blood, and is hereditary. 

 This very seldom happens with nag mares, it is more often 

 with cart mares. The way to prevent cracked heels in 

 horses is to dry the legs well after they have been wetted, 

 and if they show tenderness in the feet a little fat out of a 

 fowl is one of the finest things which can be used. It is 

 of a healing nature, and makes the skin soft and pliable. 



When a horse has a deep crack in the heel, which 

 begins to run with matter, it should have very little corn, 



