342 SANDCRACK 
afford almost any amount of pressure. The many nail holes made 
around the shoe denote the difficulty the smith encounters when fixing 
a protection of this sort upon the pumiced hoof. The crust of the foot 
is always brittle, and the weight of iron employed being greater than 
usual requires an extra number of nails to fasten it securely. The 
smith consequently, in such cases, has no choice. He must drive a nail 
wherever he can find the horn which will sustain one. 
With regard to the horn, keep that continually dressed with equal 
parts of animal glycerin and tar. Moisten the hoof with this mixture 
twice a day. No improvement may be remarked in a week; but in two 
or three months the crust will have become perceptibly less brittle, and 
the labor of the smith will be rendered far less perplexing. For the 
abnormal condition of the foot—that is permanent and nothing can be 
done beyond employing such artifices as are calculated to relieve the 
affliction. 
SANDCRACK. 
Any cause which weakens the body of the horse by interfering with 
the health of its secretions may induce sandcrack. ‘Treading for any 
length of time upon ground from which all moisture is absent, by render- 
ing the horn hard or dry, may cause the hoof to be brittle and give rise 
to sandcrack. However, this last provocative seldom operates in this 
country; when sandcrack occurs in an English horse, it is generally 
generated by debility, which leads to the secretion of faulty horn. So 
far, however, is this from being the prevailing opinion, and so little 
sympathy does the horse receive in its diseases, that the endeavor, in- 
deed the custom, of all veterinary surgeons is to continue at work the 
horse having a division running completely through the hoof. 
Sanderacks are of two sorts. Quarter crack, which chiefly happens 
among the lighter breed of animals; toe crack, which occurs prin- 
cipally with cart-horses, and mostly with those which work between the 
shafts. 
Quarter sandcrack is of the least importance of the two. It is oftenest 
seen upon the inner quarter of the hoof, where the horn, being thinnest, 
is most subjected to motion. Usually it commences at the coronet, 
extending to the sole, and also to the sensitive lamine. 
A horse thus affected should be thrown up; should be placed in a 
large, loose box, and receive soft, nutritious food, such as boiled oats, 
boiled linseed, and scalded hay. A little green-meat occasionally should 
be allowed to regulate the bowels; greased swabs should be placed over 
the hoof and under the sole. A bar shoe should be worn upon the affected 
