CRACKED HEELS. 253 
is more beneficially tonic to the general system, and which, at the same 
time, acts so directly upon the skin. 
Stablemen are fond of urging various excuses to hide their disineli- 
nation for exertion. Thus it is common for such people to assert that 
the horse’s heels cracked while the animal was out on a cold, a wet, or 
a windy day: this is nonsense. Stablemen, of course, do not desire the 
creatures which they look after to be exposed to that soil which it is 
their duty to remove; but nature, that ordained the climate, formed the 
animal to endure it. 
Were not the heels clipped, nothing short of extreme stable neglect 
could occasion those parts to crack. If the hair is removed, nothing but 
excessive good fortune will prevent this affection. The groom in the 
last case is not to blame, should the heels become sore. However, the 
best method of avoiding this affection, where the hair is cut short, 
experience has proved to be the following: Upon return to the stable, 
wash the feet scrupulously clean with cold water; then dry them thor- 
oughly. Use several cloths to effect the latter purpose, and do not 
relinquish the object while the slightest moisture remains; nor cease to 
rub them until the parts are in a glow. Subsequently, smear over the 
heels a little glycerin; but even this will not in every instance prevent 
the affection. No care can render safe that which human folly has ex- 
posed. 
