206 DISHASES OF THE HORSE’S FOOT 
The ‘pitch’ of the nail-holes should be such that the 
nail is guided more or less nearly to follow the line of 
inclination of the wall. Accordingly, the nail-holes at the 
toe should be * pitched’ distinctly inwards, the inward pitch 
lessening as the quarters are reached, until the hindermost 
nail-hole or two is pitched in a ‘direction that is almost 
perpendicular. 
Too great an inward inclination of the nail will, however, 
give rise to a bind. 
It is probable that ‘tight-nailing’ results more often 
from fine punching of the shoe than from any fault in the 
pitch of the hole. Inattention to either detail, however, is 
apt to bring the mischief about. 
Even with a correctly fitted shoe, and with a normal 
foot, tight-nailing may occur as a result of sheer careless- 
ness on the part of the smith. 
Symptoms.—Possibly the animal returns from the forge 
sound. It is on the following day, as a rule, that evidence 
of the injury is given by the animal coming out from the 
stable lame. In a well-marked case the foot is warmer to 
the hand than its fellow, and percussion over the wall will 
sometimes reveal the particular nail that is the cause of 
the trouble. Should the shoe be removed, then the fact 
that the hole the nail has made is far too close to the sole 
often points out at once the seat of the mischief. 
Treatment.—As to whether or not the shoe should be 
removed is very much a matter for careful discretion on 
the part of the veterinary surgeon. Where the foot is 
shelly and brittle even a good smith sometimes finds him- 
self unable to firmly attach the shoe without verging closely 
on causing the condition we are now describing. The 
author has known cases where animals with feet of this 
description have almost invariably returned from the forge, 
or rather been found the next day, with a suspicion of ten- 
derness. After the lapse of a day or two this has quite often 
disappeared, and nothing in the meantime been done with 
the foot. Seeing, therefore, that removal and refitting of 
the shoe is in this case attended with risk of breaking away 
