ANATOMY or THE FOOT. 587 



without shoe. Colts which have never been shod, and are walking 

 for a long time on hard and rough ground, often present this con- 

 dition. 



The horse with crooked feet inward, specially if the deviation 

 is much marked at the toe, is exposed to cut himself with the 

 internal heel of the shoe — to bruise himself ; the horse with crooked 

 feet outward cuts himself with the inner toe. Besides these, 

 lameness, from lacerations of articular ligaments, may often follow. 



This is relieved, especially in young animals, by lowering the 

 side of the waU which is the highest, and sparing the other ; the 

 proper shoe for this condition must be thicker in the branch cor- 

 responding to the lower side of the foot. The shoe ought to be 

 changed quite often, in proportion to the existing difference in 

 the height. If the foot is very crooked, it is difficult to straighten 

 it by having a greater thickness of the shoe ; it would make this 

 too heavy. Sometimes it is better to use nails with large-sized 

 heads on the lower side of the hoof ; and in these cases one might 

 put on corJcs at the heels, external or internal, as required. 



(e) Rammy foot. — This is a defectuosity of the foot, always 

 accidental, in which the surface of the wall offers more or less 

 numerous circles, above each other and running from one quarter 

 or heel to that of the other side. These roughnesses, arrranged 

 in rows, rise always from the coronary band, and form as many 

 elevations gradually descending and disappearing toward the in- 

 ferior border of the wall. They are so much more serious that 

 they are deep, and sometimes are accompanied with lameness, 

 especially when in great number, close to each other, and when 

 the foot is narrow and long. These circles are sometimes seque- 

 lae of laminitis, and accompany seedy toe ; the rings are then in 

 the middle of the toe, which is more or less roughened, like an oyster 

 shell, and they disappear only when the primitive alteration is 

 removed. When they are small, not numerous, and grow down 

 without being replaced by new ones, this favorable disposition of 

 the wall must by stimulated by all the means which may stimulate 

 and keep up the suppleness, by light blisters over the coronet. A 

 light shoeing, often changed, is the best in those cases. Circles 

 which reappear continually are due to an intimate and continued 

 alteration, and are in company with other defectuosities, such as 

 contraction, pumiced foot, etc. 



(/) Foot with bad hoof. — A hoof may be too soft or too dry. 



