AND MALFORMATIONS OF THE FEET. 97 



care must be taken to provide the horse, whilst 

 thus compelled to stand on the soles of his feet, 

 with a substantial bed of old litter or sawdust. 



When, however, this favourable result is not 

 attained, but on the contrary the disease runs its 

 course, the structural alterations above-mentioned 

 will to a greater or less degree take place. We 

 can then, when the acute attack has subsided, only- 

 have recourse to such palliatives as may enable us 

 to continue to work the horse. The treatment no 

 longer aims at curing the disease. 



In treating feet affected with chronic laminitis, 

 the evils we have to contend with are three-fold, 

 namely, — 1st, chronic disease of the laminae ; 2ndly, 

 a crust diseased and weak from want of attachment 

 to the interior parts of the feet, and therefore apt 

 to give way ; and 3rdly, a flat or convex sole. 



Our treatment in all these cases will aim at 

 saving the crust and laminae as much as possible 

 from jar and concussion. In mild cases, where the 

 sole is merely flat, but not convex, it will be suffi- 

 cient to shoe the horse with a straight shoe, flat 

 towards the foot, with a broad web, and continued 

 well back to the heels. The breadth of the shoe 

 and its continuation to the heels will diffuse and 

 lessen concussion. 



In more severe cases, where the structural alter- 

 ation is greater, and the toe of the coffin bone has 

 descended so much as to produce a convex sole, we 



7 



