SUMMERING THE HUNTER. 173 



work on the Diseases of the Feet, has the follow- 

 ing passage, in allusion to the evils of having the 

 feet of horses saturated, as they must be during a 

 summer, with wet at one time, and then suddenly 

 exposed to a hot sun and a drying wind at another. 

 " I have invariably observed," says Mr. Goodwin, 

 " where horses are turned out to grass during the 

 dry and hot summer months, that on bringing them 

 up to be put into stable condition, their feet are in 

 a much worse state than they were when they went 

 out, dried up, and so hard and brittle, that, on the 

 application of a tool to bring them into a form to 

 receive a shoe, the horn breaks like a piece of glass, 

 and all the naturally tough and elastic property is 

 lost, so that it requires some months to remove the 

 bad effects. If it is necessary that a horse should 

 be put out of work during the hot and dry weather, 

 I prefer a large box or shed, and soiling with green 

 food ; by which means two objects are gained, viz. 

 all the injurious effects of a drying wind or a meri- 

 dian sun on the hoof are avoided, which create 

 such an excessive evaporation of the natural mois- 

 ture absorbed into the horn from within, that it 

 not only becomes dry, hard, and brittle, but the 

 whole horny box tightens on the sensible parts, and 

 frequently produces great mischief. But in a loose 

 place, moisture may be applied in any desirable 

 way." In addition to the above, Mr. Goodwin 

 says, " Horses at grass are much inclined to 

 thrushes ; " which renders it unnecessary for us to 

 say more on this subject at present, although we 

 shall by-and-by offer the result of our own expe- 

 rience in the treatment of horses' feet in the summer. 



