20 



only to the space between tlie Leels of the shoe ; and, if 

 he find tliat to be considerable, he does not stop to inquire, 

 what quantity of the foot is exposed by the opening, but, 

 seemg what he calls " a good ojjen foot," is satisfied ; 

 forgetting altogether that his inspection never extended to 

 the foot at all, but was confined exclusively to the shoe. 



Having shown, in what manner this j^rS'Ctice is unj^hilo- 

 sophical, I will turn to the consideration of it as pernicious, 

 it being one of the commonest causes of a horse falling 

 suddenly lame, or dropping, " as if he had been shot ;" two 

 phrases unluckily in much too common use to require 

 explanation here. 



No portion of the foot needs protection from our hard, 

 stony roads like those, which are comprised in the space 

 between the heels ; for just in front of the cleft of the frog 

 immediately over the centre of that space lies the navicular 

 joint,* which, it must be remembered, is compelled to sustain 

 nearly the whole weight of the horse alternately with that 

 of the other foot at every movement, he makes ; and is 

 moreover the seat of nine tenths of the chronic lameness, to 

 which he is liable. We must also remember, that this joint 

 is formed by tli.e navicular bone and the tendon, which 

 passes under it ; and we can readily imagine, that its delicate 

 membranes, being jammed against their own bone by the 

 weight of the horse and its rider on the one hand, and a 

 stone resting upon a hard road on the other hand, must 

 receive a most painful and distressing squeeze ; but if, as is 

 too often the case, these membranes chance to be in a state 



* Plate 1, fig. 1. 



