516 NOTE BY MR. SPOONEJ>- 



So far as my experience goes, horses used for racing are not so often af- 

 fected as others, and this circumstance must, I think, be attributed to the 

 'act of their taking a great deal of exercise on the soft ground, where the 

 various parts of the feet meet the soil. They are not taken out of the stable 

 and compelled to proceed at once with speed, but even during severe train- 

 ing are first walked for a considerable period before they take their gallops, 

 which thus graduaEy prepares the joints for the severer exertions thoy are 

 about to perform. Hunters, too, as we have before remarked, although ex- 

 posed to sudden concussions and severe exertions, more perhaps than any 

 other horses, are yet much more exempt from the disease than horses used 

 on the road. How is this, but because they take much walking exercise 

 every day, and particularly on the day of hunting, before their severe exer- 

 tions commence, and these exertions are taken, in great measure, on the soft 

 soil, where the frog,- bars, and sole all meet the ground, and greatly assist in 

 diminishing concussion and preserving the feet in a healthy state. It is a 

 fact, too, tiiat few will gainsay who have made extensive observations, that 

 when hunters are affected with navicular disease, it is much more frequently 

 than with other horses, attended by sudden and acute lameness : the horse 

 goes out perfectly sound and comes home dead lame. 



From these circumstances we are disposed to draw the following conclu- 

 sions : — 



First — That navicular lameness may be produced suddenly by a bruise 

 on the synovial membrane, without any predisposing cause existing, but 

 that this is by no means frequent. 



Secondly — That well-bred horses with strong feet are most subject to the 

 disease. 



Thirdly — That the lameness is usually preceded by an alteration in the 

 structure of the foot, whereby the navicular-bone is somewhat displaced, and 

 has a hard unyielding surface to rest on instead of an elastic cushion. 



Fourthly — That this contraction may be either apparent or obscure. 



Fifthly — That in feet thus contracted the lameness itself is yet produced 

 by a sudden bruise. 



Sixthly — That contraction is not a direct cause of lameness itself although 

 usually considered so by authors, inasmuch as the dissection of morbid feet 

 clearly developes the disease elsewhere ; but that, although not an exciting 

 cause, it is yet a predisposing agent. 



Seventhly — That contraction is more frequently a consequence than a 

 cause of lameness, being produced by any circumstance that induces the 

 horse to abstain from bearing his weight upon the foot. 



Treatment. — In endeavoring to cure the navicular disease, much, indeed 

 almost everything, will depend on the length of time the horse lias been 

 lame. If the lameness came on suddenly, and but a short time has elapsed, 

 we may then set aboiit our treatment with a reasonable prospect of success ; 

 but if, on the other hand, the mischief has been slowly coming on, and pre- 

 ceded by pointing for some time, we may then afford some paUiation, but a 

 permanent cure we are seldom able to accomplish. In seeking a remedy 

 jjur endeavors should be directed, first, to the removal of the inflammation 

 in the joint ; and, secondly, to the restoration of the various parts of the 

 foot to their natural and proper position. If the injury has been suddenly 

 produced our treatment will be principally confined to antiphlogistic 

 measures. 



The shoe being removed, the foot must be pared out and the sole thinned, 

 more particularly that part opposite the navicular joint ; the commissures 

 should also be well cut out and thinned. This being done the foot must be 

 bled freely from the toe ; four quarts of blood may be taken, and the foot 

 idiould then be placed in a linseed- meal poultice, or one made of bran vad 



