414 STABLE MANUAL AND HORSE DOCTOR 



When the seat of mischief is ascertained, the sole should 

 be thinned round it ; and, especially at the nail-hole or the 

 puncture, it should be pared to the quick. The escape of 

 some matter will now probably tell the nature of the injury 

 and remove its consequences. If it be puncture of the sol^ 

 by some nail, or any similar body picked up on the road, 

 all that will be necessary is a little to enlarge the opening, 

 and then to place on it a pledget of tow dipped in Friar's 

 balsam, and over that a little common stopping. If there 

 be much heat and lameness, a poultice should be applied. 



The part of the sole wounded, and the depth of the wound, 

 must be taken into consideration. A deep puncture towards 

 the back part of the sole, penetrating even into the sensible 

 frog, may not be productive of serious consequence. There 

 is no great motion in the part, and there are no tendons or 

 bones in danger. A puncture near the toe may not be 

 followed by much injury. There is little motion in that 

 part of the foot, and the internal sole covering the coflfin- 

 bone will soon heal. But a puncture about the centre of the 

 sole may wound the flexor tendon where it is inserted into 

 the coflSn-bone, or may even penetrate the joint which unites 

 the navicular-bone with the coffin-bone, or pierce through 

 the tendon into the joint which it forms with the navicular- 

 bone, and a degree of inflammation may ensue, which, if 

 neglected, may be fatal. Many horses have been lost by 

 the smallest puncture of the sole in these dangerous points. 

 All the anatomical skill of the veterinarian should be called 

 into requisition when he is examining the most trifling 

 wound of the foot. 



If the foot has been wounded by the wrong direction of a 

 nail in shoeing, and the sole be well pared out over the part 

 on the first appearance of lameness, little more will be 

 necessary to be done. The opening must be somewhat 

 enlarged, the Friar's balsam applied, and the shoe tacked on, 

 with or without a poultice, according to the degree of lame- 

 ness or heat, and on the following day all will often be well. 

 It may, however, be prudent to keep the foot stopped for a 

 few days. If the accident has been neglected, and matter 

 begins to be formed, and to be pent up and to press on the 

 neighbouring parts, the horse evidently suffers extreme 

 pain, is sometimes scarcely able to put his foot to the 

 ground, and much matter is poured out when the opening 

 is enlarged, further precautions must be adopted. The fact 



