I7Q 



CHAPTER V. 



Anatomy and Physiology of the Foot. 



\JF all the diseases to which horses are liablcj. 

 there are none more difficult of cure, or that 

 occur so frequently, as those which attack the 

 foot ; and however improbable it may appear 

 to those who have not paid much attention to 

 this subject, it is an incontrovertible fact, that 

 almost ail of them are the consequence of bad 

 shoeing, and iniproper management of the 

 foot. 



No one can be aware of the importance of 

 this branch of the veterinary art, but he w ho 

 has had frequent opportunities of seeing these 

 diseases, and has taken the trouble to inquire 

 into their causes. . Such a man will be con- 

 vinced, that nearly half of the horses that be- 

 come unserviceable are rendered so by some 

 defect in the feet; and he will find that such 

 defects are most conunonl}^ occasioned by a 

 bad method of shoeing: therefore it must surely 



