58 CARE AND TRAINING OP TROTTERS. 



and sole should not be touched ; the more sole ♦» t 

 leave, the less danger of bruises and corns we will 

 have to contend with; the more frog bearing we 

 can obtain, the less jar and concussion the foot 

 and limb are subject to, and the less corns and 

 quarter cracks we are liable to have and we pre- 

 serve the natural moisture. This evaporates the 

 moment we apply a knife and open the cells or 

 pores. 



Hard Frog Unnatural. 



An animal will go lame if it steps on a pebble or 

 a rock, especially if the sole, bars and frog have 

 been excessively pared out. A frog that has been 

 trimmed to the extent of robbing it of its natural 

 function and trimmed so it is forever kept off of 

 the ground, will dry up and become as hard as a 

 piece of stone. Most horsemen will admit that a 

 stone will bruise a foot, but it is difficult for some 

 to realize that a dried-up frog is just as hard as a 

 stone. The fact of the matter is, they , both do 

 the same damage to the foot, with this slight dif- 

 ference, the stone acts on the sole only, whereas 

 the hard frog acts on the sensitive structures that 

 underly it, the fatty frog, the preforans tendon, 

 where it runs over the navicular bone to find its 

 attachment on the semi-lunar ridge of the coffin 

 bone and above this the nacivular bone. Can 

 the frog protect those parts when it is robbed of 

 the power to do so? Well hardly. 



