186 DISEASES OF THE HORSE'S FOOT 



as a rule content to confine his operations to the sole alone. 

 In addition, the frog and the bars also suffer from the too 

 lavish use of his knife. His main object is doubtless that 

 of giving a broad and open appearance to the foot. It 

 follows from this that his operations are confined more to 

 the posterior than the anterior parts of the foot, and that 

 the toe is therefore left too long. This gives us a com- 

 bination of causes leading to pressure and bruises upon the 

 sensitive structures at the seat of corn. 



By this unequal paring of the toe and the heels greater 

 weight is thrown upon the posterior half of the foot. 

 What then happens to the structures thinned as we have 

 described is this : the pared frog, lessened in volume, does 

 not meet the ground. It therefore fails to expand laterally 

 with weight, and cannot assist, as normally it should, in 

 aiding the heels generally in their movements of expansion. 

 The weakened bars and the thinned sole, meeting with no 

 opposition from the frog, give downwards and inwards with 

 the body-weight at the precise moment these movements 

 should be directed mainly outwards. As a further result 

 of non-resistance on the part of the frog, this time in a 

 lateral direction, the bars, the sole, and the wall at the heels 

 all contract at the exact time they should expand. The 

 end result must mean abnormal pressure and bruising of 

 the sensitive structures in that particular region. Naturally, 

 also, the excessive thinning of the horn renders direct 

 injury to the sole from stones or other objects in the road 

 far more probable. 



For this one reason alone — the manner in which it 

 favours the production of corn — too great a condemnation 

 cannot be placed upon excessive paring of the sole, the 

 bars, and the frog. 



When corns are already present, as they may be from 

 other causes, the same remarks will again apply to ex- 

 cessive paring. It is the custom with many smiths to 

 carefully pare down the discoloured horn in every case of 

 corn they meet with, and at the same time to again weaken 

 the bars and even part of the wall at the heels, with the 



