94 THE FOOT. 



to some difficulty in the shoulder. This, however, is a mis- 

 take. It is due to the wasting of the shoulder muscles from 

 disease. The cause is usually fast work on hard roads or 

 pavements, causing slight inflammation, which being un- 

 noticed or neglected, increases and ends in ulceration. The 

 best treatment is to remove the shoe, pare down the hoof- 

 wall and round the edge to prevent splitting, then fire 

 deeply in points around and above the coronet, follow up 

 with one or more blisters of red iodide of mercury, one part, 

 lard, three parts, and when the effects pass off, turn out the 

 animal to pasture for six weeks. It is always best to consult, 

 in this disease, a competent veterinary surgeon. 



Corns originate in simple bruises. There is later an in- 

 creased production of hoof, and the formation of a horny 

 tumor which presses on the quick. If of recent formation 

 apply a bar shoe and rasp down the bearing surface of the 

 afflicted heel and avoid pressure. Soak the feet. A horny 

 tumor must be pared to the quick and packed with tar. 

 Shoe with a bar shoe and place a leather sole between it and 

 the hoof. If the corn be further advanced the foot should 

 be soaked in a bucket of hot water for an hour, and then 

 poulticed. Any matter that has formed should be liberated, 

 and if grit or dirt have got into the heel this should be 

 cleaned out. Poultices should be kept upon the wound until 

 it is healed and free from soreness. If the cause is so serious 

 that matter has burst out at the top of the heel a veterinary 

 surgeon only is competent to manage it. 



Thrush is a disease which shows an excessive secretion 

 of unhealthy matter in the frog, and is detected by its vile 

 odor. A common cause is foul stables. The cure consists 

 in cleanliness and the removal of the cause. The diseased 

 and ragged portions of the frog should be pared and scraped 

 and the foot poulticed for a day or two with oil meal and 



