158 



QUARTER-CRACK. 



toe back, while perhaps the opposite was not disturbed. It 

 was an idea ; but so crude and difficult to put in practice, that 

 with all the care and patience I could use, I could not make 

 it work as I desired, and it is almost sure to make the horse 

 violently lame. The improvements I have made are, first, 

 in weakening at the turn of the hoof, between the toe and 

 heel, adjusting the clip with exactness after the shoe had 

 been fitted, which enables, too, a full, broad, naturally fitting 

 clip, just where it is desired to be ; and lastly, a thin shoe, 

 that will give the frog some pressure upon the ground ; and 

 finally, the form of the spreaders, which enables opening 

 either side independent of the other, with the greatest exact- 

 ness and certainty of result, gives us just what we want to 

 cure contraction and quarter-cracks, or splitting of the quar- 

 ters. When it is seen that many fine horses have such severe 

 contraction of the feet as to virtually ruin them, and that 

 there was no practical way known of giving easy or sure 

 relief, we can realize the value of this simple contrivance for 

 opening the quarters as we now can do. 



QUARTER-CRACK. -- HOW TO CUKE ANY CASE. 



Blind Billy burst his quarter severely. Previously, by 

 opening the quarter, making a crease across at the edge of 

 the hair, and keeping the foot soft, and 

 stimulating its growth, I had no trouble 

 in growing down the hoof sound. But in 

 this case the ground was so hard, rough, 

 and frosty, in connection with the great 

 extent of the split, in spite of the utmost 

 precaution and care, the horn would split 

 back as fast as it grew down, until it was 

 split almost to the ground. I knew the 

 hoof split because too small for the parts 

 within; that this pressure caused the 

 hoof to burst ; and so long as this con- 

 tinued, cure was practically impossible. 

 Cutting down between the bar and frog, 

 and weakening the quarter, so that it 

 would spread, would not do it. I was 

 driven to the resources of my ingenuity to 

 overcome the difficulty. The usual remedy for the cure of 



(No. 29.) 



Cut of shoe for quarter- 

 crack. 



