THE DISEASES OF THE FOOT OF 



THE HORSE. 



CONTRACTION. 



SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT. 



The reader will now be prepared to follow me intelligently 

 in the practical application of the theory with which I should 

 expect he is tolerably familiar. 



The evidences of contraction are both positive and negative. 



POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EVIDENCE. 



Positive evidence is the shape and contour of the foot. A 

 practiced eye can detect a contracted foot without lifting it 

 from the ground, or seeing the animal move, by standing in 

 front of the animal and noting the inclination of the quarters — 

 that is, whether they incline downwards and outwards, which is 

 normal, or downwards and inwards, which is abnormal. This 

 latter condition is that termed zuiring in, and if a horse with- 

 such quarters is not lame in some degree, he is in a fair way of 

 becoming so, or else, what sometimes occurs, the internal struc- 

 tures of his feet have become adapted to the changed contour 

 of the hoof. These are exceptional cases, however; the former 

 constitute the rule. The touch of the finger or open hand of 

 experience will detect the slightest departure from natural tem- 

 perature. The normal temperature of the healthy foot is that 

 of the surrounding atmosphere. Any increase or decrease from 

 this criterion is abnormal. Lameness or tenderness, in the 

 absence of any other symptom sufficient to account for its ex- 

 istence, would complete the positive evidence of a morbidly 

 contracted condition of the foot. It is that absence that con- 

 stitutes the negative evidence in such a case. No crack, corn, 

 bruise, or sprain being detected, the inference is a tolerably 

 safe one that simple contraction is present. I may here inform 

 the student that, having mastered the details of the operation 



