216 DISEASES OF THE FEET. 



the wall of the hoof; we may conclude that the thin end should 

 have no more substance than is necessary to afford its clinch a 

 secure hold. The happy medium between undue substance and 

 undesirable weakness is attained, as a rule, only by machine-made 

 nails of a good pattern. Some horses are especially liable to get 

 pricked on account of the walls of their hoofs being abnormally 

 thin. Others are equally or even more apt to suffer from this 

 injury by reason of unsteadiness while being shod. As the wall of 

 the hoof diminishes in thickness from the toe to the heels, and as 

 it is thinner on the inside of the foot than on the outside (Fig. 72) ; 

 the nearer to the heel a nail is driven, the greater the danger of 

 pricking the horse ; and a horse is more apt to get pricked on 

 the inside heels or quarter than on the outside. 



Horses which have " worn " fore legs sometimes go lame soon 

 after being shod, on account of their heels having been unduly 

 cut down, and increased strain being, thereby, thrown on the 

 ligaments and flexor tendons of the legs. This form of lameness 

 may easily be mistaken for that arising from a prick in shoeing, 



MODE OF DETERMINING THE SEAT AND EXTENT OF 

 THE INJURY. — If the horse, on the nail being driven, flinches 

 evidently from pain, and thereupon goes lame, we may conclude 

 that he has been pricked ; especially, if the point of the nail has 

 not come out, or has appeared high up on the wall; or if we 

 have had reason to suppose, from the dull sound of the hammer, 

 that the nail has penetrated the quick. The appearance of blood, 

 on a nail being withdrawn, will also be clear proof of this accident 

 having occurred. If lameness be observed after the nails have 

 been driven, we should first of all see if any of them have been 

 driven " higher " or " coarser " than the others, due allowance 

 being made for their position as regards their respective distances 

 from the heels, at which part, the wall is thinner and more up- 

 right than at the quarters, or toes. As advis'ed by SoUeysel, we may 

 then take up the lame foot, and tap lightly with the hammer 

 round the opposite one, to see that the horse does not 

 flinch from '^ fidgetiness." Having ascertained how he "stands" 

 this being done, we should put down the lame foot, take up the 

 sound one, and tap with the hammer on each of the clinches of 

 the nails of the injured hoof, and also on the wall below the 

 clinches, in order to ascertain the seat of pain. If any doubt 

 remains, we should take up the lame foot, and try to find out 

 the tender spot by pinching roimd the crust with a pair of pincers, 

 one claw resting against the sole within the inner edge of the 

 shoe, while the other presses against the wall. This latter 

 operation may be repeated when the shoe is off. On removing 



