PART III. 



CHAPTER I. 



GENERAL REMARKS CONCERNING THE SHOEING OF DEFECTIVE 

 HOOFS AND LAME HORSES. 



The boundary between health and disease of the hoof is diffi- 

 cult to determine, especially when we have to deal with minor 

 defects of structure or shape of the hoof. Ordinarily, we first 

 consider a hoof diseased when it causes lameness. However, 

 we know that diseases of the hoof may exist without lame- 

 ness. Therefore, a hoof should be regarded as diseased or 

 defective when the nature of the horn, the form of the hoof, or 

 the parts enclosed by it, deviate from what we consider as nor- 

 mal or healthy (see page 70), whether the service of the animal 

 is influenced by it or not. 



Front hoofs become diseased or defective more readily than 

 hind hoofs, because they bear greater weight, have more slanting 

 walls, and are more exposed to drying influences. All nor- 

 mally wry hoofs and aoute-angled hoofs become more readily 

 diseased than regular and obtuse-angled or stumpy hoofs. 



The indications of the various diseases of the hoof are dis- 

 cussed in the following chapters. We shall in this chapter 

 undertake only a brief general ' discussion of inflammation of the 

 pododerm. This inflammation, known as pododermatitis, al- 

 ways manifests itself by lameness and, under closer examination 

 of the foot, by increased warmth, pain, and stronger pulsation of the 

 digital arteries. The pain produces either a timid, shortened (sore) 



127 



