246 DISEASES OF HORSES AND CATTLE. 



A horse with a contracted foot may be helped by 

 putting on a bar shoe, poulticing the foot for two 

 weeks with linseed meal, and applying a blister of 

 cantharides to the coronet and giving several 

 months' rest. To prevent contraction see that your 

 horse is shod as directed, and do not keep it stand- 

 ing long on a hard floor whether it has shoes on or 

 not. Horses were never intended to be kept on 

 hard floors. The best kind of floor is made in this 

 way: Dig out a foot of the earth and fill it up 

 with broken stones or brick, then put on six inches 

 of clay and six inches of sand. This makes a 

 good, cool, soft place for your horses to stand on 

 when not at work, and by spreading some bedding 

 on this it is very comfortable for the horses to lie 

 down on. The stone or brick foundation keeps the 

 place dry, and the earth on top is cool, dry, and 

 soft. 



Navicular Disease. — This is a disease of the 

 navicular bone and the structures surrounding it. 

 It is called "coffin joint lameness." This bone is 

 situated at the back and inferior part of the coffin 

 joint, and acts as a pulley over which the flexor 

 tendon of the foot passes. 



Causes of this disease: Horses with upright 

 pasterns are most liable to it, as more weight is 

 thrown on this joint; horses shod with calkins on 

 their shoes, preventing the frog from coming into 

 contact with the ground, therefore causing a shock 

 to this joint. Some horses have hereditary tend- 

 ency to this disease. Nails penetrating too deep 

 through the sole, or anything that will cause in 



