DISEASES OF THE FETLOCK, ANKLE, AND FOOT. 431 



from the abuse of the rasp ; the frog, heels, and bars are not to be 

 mutilated with the knife, nor should calks be used on the shoe except 

 when absolutely necessary. The shoes should be reset at least once a 

 month to prevent the feet from becoming too long, and daily exercise 

 must be insisted on. 



As to curative measures, a diversity of opinion exists. A number 

 of kinds of special shoes have been invented, having for an object the 

 spreading of the heels, and perhaps any of these, if properly used, 

 would eventually effect the desired result. But a serious objection 

 to most of these shoes is that they are expensive and often difficult to 

 make and apply. The method of treatment which I have adopted is 

 not only attended with good results, -but is inexpensive, if the loss of 

 the patient's services for a time is not considered a part of the ques- 

 tion. It consists, first, in the use of poultices or baths of cold water 

 until the horn is thoroughly softened. The foot is now prepared for 

 the shoe in the usual way, except that the heels are lowered a little 

 and the frog remains untouched. A shoe, called a " tip," is made by 

 cutting off both branches at the center of the foot and drawing the 

 ends down to an edge. The tapering of the branches shovild begin at 

 the toe, and the shoe should be of the usual width, with both the upper 

 and lower surfaces flat. This tip is to be fastened on with six or eiight 

 small nails, all set well forward, two being in the toe. With a com- 

 mon foot rasp begin at the heels, close to the coronet, and cut away 

 the horn of the wall until only a thin layer covers the soft tissues 

 beneath. Cut forward until the new surface meets the old 2^ or 3 

 inches from the heel. The same sloping shape is to be observed in 

 cutting downward toward the bottom of the foot, at which point the 

 wall is to retain its normal thickness. The foot is now blistered all 

 round the coronet with Spanish-fly ointment; when this is well set, 

 tlie patient is to be turned to pasture in a damp field or meadow. The 

 blister should be repeated in three or four weeks, and, as a rule, the 

 patient can be returned to work in two or three months. 



The object of the tip is to throw the weight on the frog and heels, 

 which are readily spread after the horn has been cut away on the 

 sides of the wall. The internal structures of the foot at the heels, 

 being relieved of excessive pressure, regain their nomal condition if 

 the disease is not of too long standing. The blister tends to relieve 

 any inflammation which may be present, and stimulates a rapid 

 growth of hpalthy horn, which, in most cases, ultimately forms a 

 wide and normal heel. In old, chronic cases, with a shrunken frog 

 and increased concavity of the sole, accompanied with excessive 

 wasting of all the internal tissues of the foot, satisfactory results can 

 not be expected and are rarely obtained. Still, much relief, if not 

 an entire cure, may be effected by these measures. 



