CONTRACTION. 265 



sures will, in some degree, rectify the evil, and the 

 horse may under such treatment be equal to moderate 

 work. 



CONTRACTION. 



The foot of the horse, in its perfect state, approaches 

 to a circular form. But he has scarcely entered our 

 service before it generally begins to assume a more 

 lengthened shape; becoming narrower every where, 

 but especially at the heel. Some horses, however, 

 have naturally narrow feet ; and in them it is, there- 

 fore, hardly a defect. The contracted foot is one 

 which has departed from its original shape — one 

 which was broad and has become narrow; and, as 

 this change seldom occurs in a like degree in all the 

 feet, the best evidence of its having taken place is 

 found in the fact of the hoofs being of different dimen- 

 sions and shapes. 



Contraction, however, is rather the symptom of 

 disease than a disease of itself. The horn is secreted 

 by the internal parts ; and these internal parts must, 

 therefore, be affected before the horn, which is their 

 secretion, can be changed. When, consequently, the 

 form of the hoof alters, we have outward evidence 

 that the deep-seated structures are not healthy. But 

 their condition may be aggravated by the state of the 

 horn ; in the same way that every disease may be ren- 

 dered worse by the symptoms which it has produced, 

 and which in their turn have become the causes of 

 further evil. 



To make this more plain I will narrate the history 

 of a horse's foot. The animal is taken into the stable, 



N 



