56 EXAMINATION OF HORSES AS TO SOUNDNESS 



The Feet. — In selecting a horse for purchase, 

 it is all-important to see that the animal has 

 good and sound feet. Large flat, splodding feet 

 should always be avoided, as they are prone to 

 disease, and especially to laminitis, or fever. A 

 narrow foot, again, especially one that is narrow 

 at the heels, is a bad-shaped foot for a horse to 

 have, as feet of this shape very often become 

 affected with navicular disease, the worst cause 

 of lameness a horse can be troubled Avith. A 

 foot that is not uniform in size — viz., one side 

 being larger than the other — is a bad foot, as it 

 shows that some structural change has taken 

 place, which may probably cause lameness at 

 some future date. A foot that is neither too 

 large nor too small in proportion to the horse's 

 size, of a nice round shape, the horn not shelly 

 or brittle or encircled by rings, the soles of 

 a nice clean, compact appearance, slightly arched 

 or concave, with a well-developed frog, is the 

 ideal foot. Both feet should be of the same 

 size, and the horse should stand straight ujDon 

 the ground, neither turning them out nor in- 

 wards. 



