DISEASES OF THE HORSE'S FOOT 
CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTION 
THe importance of that branch of veterinary surgery 
dealing with diseases of the horse’s foot can hardly be over- 
estimated. That the animal’s usefulness is dependent 
upon his possession of four good feet is a fact that has long 
been recognised. Who, indeed, is there to be found en- 
tirely unacquainted with one or other of such well-known 
aphorisms as: ‘Whoever hath charge of a horse’s foot 
has the care of his whole body’; ‘ As well a horse with no 
head as a horse with no foot’; or the perhaps better known, 
and certainly more epigrammatic, ‘ No foot, no horse.’ 
Without taking these sayings literally, it will be admitted 
by almost everyone that they contain a vast amount of 
actual truth. This allowed, it at once becomes clear that a 
ready understanding of the diseases to which the foot is 
liable, the means of holding them in check, and the correct 
methods of treating them should figure largely in the 
knowledge at the command of the veterinary surgeon. 
In the very great majority of instances the horse’s ability 
to perform labour is the one thing that justifies his existence, 
and to that end the presence of four good, sound feet is an 
almost indispensable qualification. And yet how many 
circumstances do we see tending to militate against that 
one essential. 
Even in colthood the foot, if neglected, may become 
a source of trouble. Unless periodically examined and 
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