144 DISEASES OF THE HORSE’S FOOT 
plane. It is a condition observed far more frequently in 
fore than in hind limbs, and is seen in connection with 
low heels, more or less obliquity of the wall, and a tendency 
to contraction. The action of the animal with flat feet is 
heavy, a result partly of the build of the foot, and partly 
of the tenderness that soon comes on through the liability 
of the sole to constant bruising. 
Fie. 80. 
This figure represents the lower surface of a typical flat-foot. It illustrates, 
too, the commencement of a condition we referred to in Section B of this 
chapter—namely, the compression of the frog by the ingrowing heels (d) 
and bars (a). 
Causes.—Flat-foot is undoubtedly a congenital defect, 
and is seen commonly in horses of a heavy, lymphatic 
type, and especially in those bred and reared on low, 
marshy lands. It is thus a common condition of the fore- 
feet of the Lincolnshire shire. 
As might be expected, a foot of this description is far 
more prone to suffer from the effects of shoeing than is the 
foot of normal shape, and regarded in this light shoeing 
may be looked upon as, if not an actual cause, certainly a 
means of aggravating the condition. Directly the shoe— 
or at any rate the ordinary shoe—is applied, mischief 
