48 STABLE MANUAL AND HORSE DOCTOR 



pain on pressure ; and any signs of blistering or other 

 treatment, though no enlargement or lameness is apparent, 

 should induce the buyer to view the animal with increased 

 suspicion. 



Should there be any sores or callous places about the 

 fetlocks or pasterns, he is a cutter, and possibly the marks 

 of the foot may be visible. If there is no malformation to 

 account for it, it may have been done when fatigued, or it 

 may have arisen from improper shoeing ; his feet should 

 then be again examined. 



If an old offender, ho may probably have a peculiar shoe, 

 rather thicker and narrower in the web on the inside than 

 the outside, and nailed only on the outside of the foot, and 

 round the toe ; or the opposite shoe is found filed away or 

 bevelled off, with the hoof projecting a little over the shoe. 

 Where the feet, though well formed, are placed closer than 

 desirable in narrow-chested horses, and therefore apt to cut, 

 particularly when tired, we sometimes find a shoe which is 

 thinner on the inside than the outside. 



At other times various ingenious devices, calculated 

 rather to increase than remedy the evil, have been resorted 

 to ; such as putting on shoes narrower on the inside of the 

 foot, and the iron within the wall of the quarters reduced 

 in thickness by the rasp. If none of these schemes have 

 been resorted to, to obviate the defect, the horn of the 

 opposite foot will sometimes be found polished by the 

 attrition ; for it is not the shoe that cuts once in a hundred 

 times, but the hoof. In horses that interfere, we generally 

 find the inside quarter lower than the outer, or the toes 

 turned outwards — the fault being in the leg that receives 

 the mischief while sustaining the weight, not in the foot 

 that gives the blow. The tired horse throws his legs about, 

 and frequently cuts himself ; and it is a fault of most young 

 uneducated horses, especially if they have been backed 

 inconsiderately, or worked too early. 



If there are any symptoms of " knucking over " or 

 inclination of the fetlocks forward, serious injury has 

 happened. 



The Fetlock Joint — The hair above and below the fetlock 

 joint should be carefully searched for the scars left by the 

 operation cf neurotomy. Pricking the fetlock, if you have 

 reason to suspect that this operation has been performed, 

 will show whether sensation has been destroyed. About 



