WEAKNESS OF THE FOOT. 403 



larly if they are much employed in the paved streets. The change commences 

 sometimes at the anterior part of the cartilage, hut much oftener at the posterior 

 and inferior part. " From the combined operation of great weight and high 

 action, the feet, and particularly the heels, come with great force on the ground. 

 The cartilages, heing imbedded in the heels of the feet, are, therefore, the parts 

 that receive the greatest degree of concussion, the consequence of which is that 

 subacute inflammation is set up, and the secreting vessels deposit ossific instead 

 of cartilaginous matter, in the room of that which is absorbed in the usual 

 process of nature." * 



No evident inflammation of the foot, or great, or perhaps even perceptible 

 lameness, accompanies this change ; a mere slight degree of stiffness may have 

 been observed, which, in a horse of more rapid pace, would have been lameness. 

 Even when the change is completed, there is not in many cases anything more 

 than a slight increase of stiffness, little or not at all interfering with the useful- 

 ness of the horse. When this altered structure appears in the lighter horse, 

 the lameness is more decided, and means should be taken to arrest the progress 

 of the change. These are blisters or firing ; but, after the parts have become 

 bony, no operation will restore the cartilage. Some benefit, however, will be 

 derived from the use of leather soles. Advantage has resulted from bar shoes 

 in conjunction with leather. 



Connected with ringbone the lameness may be very great. This has been 

 spoken of in page 351. 



WEAKNESS OF THE FOOT. 



This is more accurately a bad formation, than a disease ; often, indeed, the 

 result of disease, but in many instances the natural construction of the foot. 

 The term weak foot is familiar to every horseman, and the consequence is too 

 severely felt by all who have to do with horses. In the slanting of the crust 

 from the coronet to the toe, a less angle is almost invariably formed, amounting 

 probably to not more than forty instead of forty-five degrees ; and, after the 

 horse has been worked for one or two years the line is not straight, but a little 

 indented or hollow, midway between the coronet and the toe. This has been 

 described as the accompaniment of pumiced feet, but it is often seen in weak 

 feet, that, although they might become pumiced by severity of work, do not 

 otherwise have the sole convex. The crust is not only less oblique than it 

 ought to be, but it has not the smooth, even appearance of the good foot. The 

 surface is sometimes irregularly roughened, but it is much oftener roughened in 

 circles or rings. The form of the crust likewise presents too much the appear- 

 ance of a cone ; the bottom of the foot is unnaturally wide in proportion to the 

 coronet ; and the whole of the foot is generally, but not always, larger than it 

 Bhould be. 



When the foot is lifted, it will often present a round and circular appearance, 

 with a fullness of frog, that would mislead the inexperienced, and indeed be con- 

 sidered as almost the perfection of structure ; but, being examined more closely, 

 many glaring defects will be seen. The sole is flat, and the smith finds that it 

 will bear little or no paring. The bars are small in size. They are not cut 

 away by the smith, but they can be scarcely said to have any existence. The 

 heels are low, so low that the very coronet seems almost to touch the ground ; 

 and the crust, if examined, appears scarcely thick enough to hold the nails. 



Horses with these feet can never stand much work. They will be subject to 

 corns, to bruises of the sole, to convexity of the sole, to punctures in nailing, to 



* W. C. Spooner on the Foot of the Horse, page 249. 



