CARE OF THE FEET AND LEGS 95 



keeping the feet soft by stoppings of cow-dung and clay, 

 are antiquated fallacies that hardly require being com- 

 bated in the present day. In India, especially, we require 

 the feet to be as hard and tough as possible, so that the 

 horse may neither flinch, nor go short over hard or broken 

 ground, nor become lame if he casts a shoe, and has to 

 proceed for a few miles bare-foot. Water applied to the 

 feet renders them soft and weak, on account of the 

 capillary attraction exerted by the fibres of the horn on 

 any liquid with which it may come in contact. It is a 

 significant fact that the drier the climate is, in which 

 horses are bred and reared, the stronger and better able 

 to stand work will their feet be. 



No benefit is obtained by applying hoof ointment to 

 the crust, unless, perhaps, to those parts from which the 

 hard and varnished covering of the wall may have been 

 rasped away by a careless or ignorant shoeing-smith. 

 The growth of the wall of the hoof can alone be hastened 

 by stimulating the coronet which secretes it ; hence, any 

 hoof ointment, used as such, is powerless to effect this end. 



Although the employment of greasy applications may 

 have a temporary effect in tending to render dry horn 

 tough, still, their constant use will, as a rule, cause the 

 feet to become far more brittle than they were before, 

 if, by any chance, these dressings are discontinued. They 

 should, therefore, not be employed with horses, like those 

 in the army, that may be sent on work, the circumstances 

 of which may prevent the use of such applications. 



In this chapter I have already dwelt upon the evils 

 of washing the legs of the horse ; hence, I need not 

 further allude to the subject, beyond saying that, if the 



