86 THE FOOT. 



wards, to the pressure of the finger and thumb ; 

 but they are liable to a disease, which renders 

 them partially or wholly inelastic, and frequently 

 makes them so prominent as to invite attention. 

 They are converted into bone, and stable-men 

 say the horse has side bones. It is a disease 

 most commonly met with in heavy draught 

 horses, and is one which constitutes unsound- 

 ness, inasmuch as it produces more or less 

 tenderness in all its stages : and if the horse has 

 to be driven about a town, it will, in time, pro- 

 ceed to such an extent as to make him a perfect 

 cripple ; and besides that, it makes the bone of 

 the foot liable to fracture. To a farmer, how- 

 ever, a horse having side bones may be useful 

 for many years, at any work where the ground 

 is soft, and the pace slow. 



Sandcrack is a fracture of the hoof, or a 

 separation of the fibres composing it. The 

 fissure is commonly found in the inside quarter 

 of the hoof, and varies in length from half an 

 inch to the whole depth of the crust. It some- 

 times occurs in the market-place, where the 

 horse is driven violently about on the stones ; 

 and the buyer should therefore look for it, 

 because it may be so small as otherwise to 



