128 STABLE ECONOMY. 



the wall without materially interfering with the horse's duty 

 Sponge boots, leather boots lined with sponge, and shod with 

 iron, are too expensive, for they are soon destroyed. A boot of 

 any kind will do if filled with cold bran-marsh, changed every 

 time the boot is applied. The moisture must never be applied 

 so long as to render the foot extremely soft, yet the horn must 

 never be allowed to become very dry. The boot should never 

 be on more than three or four hours in the twenty-four, and 

 the foot should be anointed, both sole and crust, whenever the 

 boot is removed. An ordinary and simple way of applying 

 moisture to the wall, is by means of what is termed a swab, 

 that is, a double or treble fold of woollen cloth, shaped like a 

 crescent, and tied loosely around the top of the hoof, so that 

 it may lie upon and cover all the crust. This is kept con- 

 stantly wet. It soon dries, and requires more attention than a 

 boot ; but many horses stand in the swab that tear off a boot ; 

 and by means of a swab, moisture can be applied to the wall 

 without softening the sole or the frog. 



The Clay-Box. — In some establishments, the upper half of a 

 stall, or one corner of a loose box, is laid with wet clay. A 

 horse having tender, contracted, or brittle fore-feet, is put into 

 this for one or two hours every day. Sometimes the floor of 

 a loose box is entirely covered with the wet clay, and the 

 horse turned into it all day, being stabled at night, that he may 

 lie dry. The clay-box is good for some feet, and bad for oth- 

 ers. It is used with too little discrimination for all defects 

 of the feet, real or supposed. "When the clay is very wet, 

 the moisture softens the horn, increases its growth, expands 

 the hoof, and brings down the sole. It also cools the foot, and 

 tends to subdue inflammation. When the horse is of little 

 weight, his feet strong, contracted, rather hot, and the heels 

 high, the clay may be thoroughly soaked with water ; the 

 horse's shoes had better be off, and he may stand in the clay 

 all day fo "r eight or ten successive days, if not at work. If 

 working, one or two hours every second day will be sufficient. 

 When the crust and sole are rather thin and weak, the latter 

 tending downward, the growth of horn deficient, the clay 

 should be tougher, having no loose water about it, the horse's 

 shoes should be kept on, and he may stand in the clay two 

 hours every day. In the first case the sole is to be lowered, 

 the foot expanded and cooled ; in the second, the growth of 

 horn is to be stimulated, and the sole supported. The horn 

 would grow faster if there were more moisture ; but were the 

 clay softer, it would not afford sufficient support Additional 



