250 CRACKED HEELS. 
the manner subsequently advised for cracked heels. But in every case 
of this kind always begin the treatment with a change of stable attend- 
ant; for where certain diseases appear, these are conclusive proof that 
duty is neglected. No remonstrance, no chiding, can amend the habits 
of the groom, who has, from drink or other indulgence, lost pride in the 
stable over which he should reign supreme. 
CRACKED HEELS. 
This is, save where very wrong-headed measures are pursued, the affec- 
tion peculiar to the cold and wet months of the year. Even during the 
inclement weather of the summer, however, the horse may, if badly man- 
aged, exhibit this form of disease. Should the hair, which nature with 
kind intention placed upon the fetlock, be ruthlessly cut away, the animal 
is thereby rendered liable to cracked heels. ‘The wet very rarely pene- 
trates that designed defense. When it does, the ample covering of hair 
falling over the skin prevents evaporation, and the 
moisture rather promotes warmth than causes any 
excess of cold. The dirt of the road always lodges 
upon the surface of the hair, and if the horsekeeper 
exercise only ordinary care it can never soil the flesh. 
The liability induced by removal of the natural 
covering exemplifies the folly of those practices 
which have lately become so very fashionable as at 
the present time to be almost universal. But there 
has always appeared to exist in the human mind a 
restless desire to improve the beauty of the horse. 
Now the tail has been docked; then the ears have 
eee ee ee xmnes * been cut, A short space prior to these amend- 
ments, the skin was tampered with to produce a star, 
as a white spot upon the forehead was termed. At the passing hour 
almost every man who owns a horse must have the body clipped or 
singed. The length of hair is given in this climate as a necessary pro- 
vision. Nature never forms anything without its use; though man in 
his ignorance may not always be able to comprehend her intention. 
Were finer coats desired, it would probably be wiser to obtain them by 
warming the stable, increasing the clothing, and avoiding those long 
stagnations during which the animal has to remain motionless before 
street doors. A long coat is a defense against a cold winter; and unless 
man provides against the consequences of our climate, it is evidently 
flagrantly wrong to deprive a dumb creature of the protection which 
nature has bestowed. 
