ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 201 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



PREVENTABLE DISEASES. 



Preventable' diseases are those that result from improper 

 care or use. A large proportion of the diseases that a horse is 

 liable to comes under this head. 



They may be grouped in two general classes : diseases due to 

 bad shoeing, and diseases due to bad stable management. 



Under the first head come, more especially, diseases in the 

 feet and legs, manifested by lameness. 



Bad shoeing is the commonest cause of all varieties of dis- 

 eases of this region. If, in fitting the shoe, the wall is not rasped 

 down evenly all around, if the shoe is too small for the foot, and 

 the crust is rasped off to cover up the defect, if the bars are cut 

 away, if the shoe is too high behind so that the frog cannot 

 strike the ground, the result will be felt in the horse's action. 



The following diseases are usually caused by improper 

 shoeing, or may be prevented by. proper shoeing: speedy cut, 

 splints, strained tendons, broken knees, ringbones, sidebones, 

 treads, brushing, corns, and cracks. 



When a horse is laid up for any reason, his shoes should 

 be removed at once. This permits a freer growth of the horn, 

 it gives the frog a chance to get a bearing, arid it is a rest to the 

 foot. The plantar surface of the foot should be rasped smooth 

 and the edges rounded off whenever the shoe is taken off, to 

 prevent the wall from splitting. 



There is no better way to build up a horse or to keep 

 one in health than to allow him an occasional run at 

 grass. A horse that is a bit run down in flesh will be much 

 benefited by having his shoes taken off and allowed to run for 

 a few days in a pasture. The natural exercise, the green food, 

 Digitized by Microsoft® 



