CHAPTER IV. 

 Foals and Unshod Feet. 



Injury to horses may result from want of attention 

 to tlieir unshod feet. At first sight, this statement 

 would appear to suggest that the hoof, m a natural con- 

 dition, was unaLlo to take care of itself. This is not so. 

 "When horses without shoes are really in a state of 

 nature they have extensire pasture grounds and un- 

 limited freedom of motion. Growth and wear of hoof are 

 balanced, and so the foot is preserved in a proportionate 

 shape. Over-wear of horn causes the horse to rest his 

 tender foot, and growth soon brings about a bala,nce. 

 Over-growth cannot take place so long as constant wear 

 accompanies the free movement of the animal. 



The injury referred to is due to excessive growth of 

 horn, which takes place on the feet of horses that are 

 confined in stables or small paddocks where natural use 

 is insufncient to preserve the balance between growth 

 and wear. Excessive growth of horn causes dispropor- 

 tion in the form of a foot, and ill-formed feet soon react 

 injuriously upon the limb. All horses' feet, as they grow, 

 become long at the toe, .and thuri the bearing surface 

 upon which the leg should firmly rest, is carried too 

 far forward from the vertical line of the limb. This 

 injuriously affects the joiiits and tendons of the leg. 

 Over-grown feet are always too high at the heels, and 

 thus the frog is removed from its proper bearing on the 

 ground, with the consequence that it wastes, loses its 

 function and permits contraction of the hoof. Excessive 

 growth of hoof may also leave one side of the wall 

 higlier than the other, a condition which, esi^ecially in 

 young horses, may cause a more or less permanent 

 twisting of the foot on the leg. 



The reaction of the limb to distorted forms of hoof 

 and the injury to internal jDarts of the foot from dispro- 

 portionate growth of hoof are more serious i)i young- 



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