THE HOOF. 229 



habitually stand on iron. The cleft of the frog in a healthy 

 foot is merely a slight depression in the centre of the frog, 

 and does not communicate with the sensitive structures 

 immediately above the frog. If the wall be strong and the 

 sole be concave, we may rest assured that the horn which 

 covers the sole is of sufficient substance, provided, of course, 

 that it has not been pared away by the shoeing-smith. 

 Some horses have an excess of soft tissue at the back of the 

 foot, which then makes the distance between the coronet 

 and heels abnormally long. This condition is known as 

 "boxy" or "fleshy heels," and is objectionable in that it 

 cramps the action of the foot, and renders it weaker, and 

 consequently more liable to injury, than if the foot were in a 

 normal state. 



An undesirable kind of conformation which is sometimes 

 seen, usually in horses that have an admixture of cart and 

 thoroughbred blood, is that which gives the hoof the appear- 

 ance of being too big for the bones which it covers, without 

 being in any way deformed by disease, or by an overgrowth 

 of horn. This condition is due to the pastern bones being 

 slight in comparison to the size of the pedal bone, which, in 

 health, regulates that of the hoof. In such cases, the leg is 

 not alone abnormally weak, but the fact that its bones are 

 not symmetrical, points to the probability that there are, in 

 other parts of the framework, other instances of lack of har- 

 monious conformation. 



