360 



forthe purpose of receiving the downward pressure of the column of 

 bones and to destroy shock. (Plate xxix, Fig. 4.) 



The lateral cartilages are attached, one on either side, to the wings of 

 the cofiin bone byxheir inferior borders. Tliey are thin plates of fibro- 

 cartilage, and their function is to assist the frog and adjacent structures 

 to regain their proper position after having been displaced by the weight 

 of the body while the foot rested on the ground. (Plate xxix, Fig. 2.) 



FAULTS OF CONFORMATION. 



A large percentage of the horses have feet which are not perfect in 

 conformation, and as a consequence of these imperfections the^^ are es- 

 pecially i^redisposed to certain injuries and diseases. 



Flat feet is that condition in which the sole has little or no convexity. 

 It is a iieculiarity common to some breeds, especially heavy, lymphatic 

 animals raised on low, marshy soils. It is confined to the forefeet, which 

 are generally broad, low heeled, and with a wall less upright than is 

 seen in the perfect foot. 



In flat-foot there can be little or no elasticity in the sole, for the rea- 

 son that it has no arch, and the weight of the animal is received on the 

 entire jilantar surface as it rests upon the ground instead of on the wall. 

 For these reasons such feet are i)articularly liable to briiises of the sole, 

 corns, i^umiced sole, and excessive suppuration when the process is once 

 established. Horses with flat-foot should be shod with a shoe having a 

 wide web, pressing on the wall only, while the heels and frog are never 

 to be pared. Flat-foot generally has weak walls, and as a consequence 

 the nails of the shoe are readily loosened and the shoe cast. 



Clubfoot is a term applied to such feet as have the wall set nearly per- 

 pendicular. When this condition is present the heels are high, the fet- 

 lock joint is thrown forward, or knuckles, and the weight of the animal 

 is received on the toes. Many mules are clubfooted, especially behind, 

 where it seems to cause little or no inconvenience. Clubfoot may be 

 cured by cutting the tendons in severe cases, but as a rule special shoe- 

 ing is the only measure of relief that can be adopted. The toe should 

 not be pared, but the heels are to be lowered as much as possible, and 

 a shoe put on with a long projecting toe piece, slightly turned up, while 

 the heels of the shoe are to be made thin, 



Croolied foot is that condition in which one side of the wall is higher 

 than the other. If the inside wall is the higher, the ankle is thrown 

 outward, so that the fetlock joints are abnormally wide apart and tlie 

 toes close together. Animals with this deformity are "pigeon-toed," 

 and are prone to interfere, the inside toe striking the opposite fetlock. 

 If but one foot is affected, the other being perfect, the liability to in- 

 terfere is still greater, for the reason that the fetlock of the perfect leg 

 is more near the center iilane. 



When, the outside heel is the higher the ankle is thrown in and the 



