158 DISEASES OF THE HORSE'S FOOT 



From what we have said before on contracted foot, this 

 bending in of the wall of the upright side will at once be 

 recognized as a form of contraction. It is, in fact, con- 

 traction confined to one-half of the foot only, and, as a 

 result, the upright side of the crooked foot is prone to the 

 troubles arising from that condition. Corns are frequent, 

 and atrophy of that half of the frog on the affected side 

 supervenes. With the inflammatory changes accompany- 

 ing these conditions we find the horn of the affected side 

 deteriorating in quality. It becomes dry and brittle, and 

 extremely liable to sand-crack. At the same time, thrush 

 of the contracted frog begins to make its appearance. 



Causes. — More often than not this condition is a result 

 of the conformation of the limb. According as the build 

 above inclines the animal to ' turned in ' or ' turned out ' 

 toes, so shall we have feet with a wall crooked inwards or 

 crooked outwards; and it may be mentioned here that the 

 evil results inflicted on the foot by ill-shaped limbs above 

 will make themselves the more readily noticed when the 

 animal comes to be shod for any length of time. So long 

 as a natural wear of the foot is allowed, so long does it 

 accommodate itself to the form of limb above. So soon, 

 however, as the shoe is applied, and a more or less equal 

 (and in this case harmful) wear by that means insisted on, 

 so soon does this abnormal change in the height and direc- 

 tion of the horn fibres begin to make itself seen- 



(While arising in the majority of instances from faulty 

 conformation of the limb, crooked feet may also be brought 

 about by bad shoeing, or by unequal paring of the foot, and, 

 in a few cases, from unequal wear of the foot in a state of 

 nature. 



Treatment. — Although it may be taken as a rule that 

 lowering of the higher wall, even if persisted in at every 

 shoeing, will do nothing towards remedying the primary 

 cause (viz., the evil conformation of the limb), yet it will 

 serve to keep the condition within reasonable limits. In 

 this case, while removing so much of the wall as is deemed 

 necessary, care must be taken to leave uncut the sole and 



