50 STABLE MANUAL AND HORSE DOCTOR 



regarded with a suspicious eye, as either denoting past 

 hard work or betokening future evils. On the same 

 principle, a horse may have a spavin, and be only stiff 

 from it at starting, or he may have a curb, or a thorough- 

 pin, and be perfectly sound ; but these are still blemishes, 

 and as such detract from the intrinsic value of the animal. 



The Foot — We now arrive at the foot, the foundation of 

 the horse ; too much attention cannot be paid to it. The 

 best way of judging whether there is malformation of the 

 feet, either natural or the result of disease, is to face the 

 horse, and compare the two feet together. 



The Hoof. — " No foot, no horse" is a trite but very true 

 adage. First, we should look to the size of the hoof; 

 a small foot is not only objectionable in itself, even though 

 it be a natural formation, but is often characteristic of 

 disease. A small and upright hoof is a morbid structure. 

 White hoofs are to be eyed with suspicion, for they are 

 really weaker, and more liable to disease than black ones ; 

 and if a horse has one white and the other dark coloured, 

 and he is lame, in nine cases out of ten it is the white hoof 

 that is affected. Other considerations now engross our 

 attention. Is it contracted ? i.e.y is its circular form 

 destroyed by narrowness at the heels ? A good hoof is 

 circular in the tread, or nearly so, measuring as much from 

 side to side as from toe to heel ; but we frequently find 

 those that are morbid measuring as much from toe to heel 

 as twice the lateral diameter. On the other hand, the wall 

 of the hoof, which should, at all times, be perfectly smooth 

 and free from ridges (the contrary indicating disease), may 

 be very oblique, in which case it is not only circular, but 

 spreads out, even to an abnormal degree, in the tread. Its 

 wall should be round, smooth, level, and of a shining dark 

 colour ; full in front, of a proper obliquity, free from ribs 

 or seams, and perfectly cool. Its proper obliquity is an 

 angle of forty-five degrees with the plane of the shoe. If 

 the angle is materially less, the sole is flat, or perhaps 

 convex ; if the angle exceeds it, the foot is contracted. 



Shape. — When the outward line of the hoof is irregular, 

 it marks what is called a '' shelly foot." This is decidedly 

 bad. If there are any protuberances or rings round it, they 

 indicate that the feet have suffered from inflammation to 

 such a degree as to produce unequal growth of horn. This 

 frequently leaves injurious consequences in the internal 



