246 DISEASES OF THE HORSE'S FOOT 



of the incomplete horn is usually a narrow fissure marking 

 the line of separation in the papillary layer of the coronary 

 cushion, which, as we shall later see, is responsible for the 

 malformation. 



On either side of the indentation, as if wishing to aid 

 further than ordinarily it should in bearing the body- 

 weight, the horn takes on an increased growth, and 

 stands above the level of the horn surrounding it. It 

 may, as perhaps it really is, be regarded as a form of 

 hypertrophy, brought about by the increased work that 

 the loss of substance in the region of the false quarter puts 

 upon it. 



So long as the sensitive structures are protected the 

 animal remains sound. Sometimes, however, from the 

 effects of concussion or of the body-weight, a fissure ap- 

 pears in the narrow veneer of horn that covers them. 

 Into this, which, of course, is but a form of sand-crack, 

 gravel and dirt penetrate, and so set up inflammatory 

 changes in the keratogenous membrane. As a result 

 suppuration ensues, and the animal is lame. 



Causes. — False quarter may result from any disease of 

 the foot that involves destruction of a portion of the 

 coronary cushion. As we may see from a reference to 

 Chapter III., it is from the papillae of this body that the 

 horn tubules of the wall are secreted. Destruction of any 

 portion of it necessarily results in a corresponding loss of 

 horn in that position. The disease occasioning this more 

 often than any other is perhaps quittor. It may also result 

 from suppurating corn, from a severe tread or overreach, 

 or from the effects of a slowly progressing suppurating 

 coronitis. 



Treatment. — A radical treatment of false quarter is not 

 to be found. Once destruction of the secreting layer of 

 the coronary cushion has occurred, the appearance of the 

 fissure in the wall will always have to be reckoned with. A 

 false quarter, therefore, not only renders the horse liable to 

 occasional lameness, but also renders weaker that side of 

 the hoof in which it occurs. 



