THE FOOT. 87 



escape notice : and if he has once got the horse 

 home with a sandcrack, there is little or no 

 probability of getting him returned : for, unless 

 something about it shows that it has been treated, 

 no veterinary surgeon can swear that it existed 

 prior to sale. It is an unsoundness, however, 

 if it did. 



Contraction. The foot may be said to be 

 contracted, when it is narrower from side to 

 side, than it is long from the point of the toe to 

 the heel of the frog. Most people regard a 

 contracted foot as being a great detriment to 

 the horse : but it frequently happens that the 

 very people who do so, have a horse whose foot 

 is very narrow, without their being aware of it ; 

 which, along with many other circumstances, 

 shows, that it is not so serious an evil as is 

 commonly imagined. Indeed, there are very iew 

 well-bred horses above the age of seven, thathave 

 not more or less contraction in their hoofs, and 

 yet show no symptoms of being in the least 

 incapacitated by it. A fact we need not wonder 

 at, when it is known, that where the contraction 

 comes on very slowly, the parts within accommo- 

 date themselves to the diminished size of the 

 lioof, and hence we have a small foot, which of 



