HORSESHOEING. 141 



leather sole. A three-quarter shoe is not sufficient to properly pro- 

 tect a hoof affected with a chronic corn, if the animal must perform 

 exacting labor on hard roads. 



Deeply digging out a small area of blood-stained horn is inju- 

 rious. It is much better to thin the horn of the entire branch of 

 the sole uniformly, in doing which we should avoid wounding the 

 velvety tissue of the sole, or drawing blood. 



The care of the hoof consists in keeping it cool, moderately 

 moist, and pliant. 



5. Inflammation of the Heels. 



Inflammation of the bulbs of the plantar cushion (heels) is 

 usually caused by such external influences as bruising. It occurs 

 in both shod and unshod feet. The symptoms are : increased 

 warmth, pain and swelling, sometimes infiltration of the tissues 

 with blood, accompanied by a short, cautious gait, or, if only one 

 foot is affected, by well-marked lameness. 



The most frequent causes are : going barefoot upon hard 

 (frozen), uneven ground ; shoeing hoofs having low heels with 

 flat shoes that are too short ; sometimes too much frog-pressure 

 by the bar of a bar-shoe ; forging and grabbing. 



The treatment first indicated is a cooling application in the 

 form of an ice-poultice, or a soaking in cold water. Later, 

 astringent (drying) applications are of benefit, especially if the 

 periopUc horn-ring has partially loosened from the bulbs of the 

 heels; for example, a weak solution in water of sulphate of 

 copper (1 to 20), followed by the application of a shoe with heel- 

 calks, which is quite long in the branches and which m,ust not 

 press upon the wall of the quarters. 



6. Laminitis or Founder, Rheumatic Laminitis. 



By this name we designate a peculiar inflammation of the 



pododerm, which is usually brought on by chilling. It arises 



suddenly, without previous symptoms, in well-nourished and 



apparently healthy horses, following excessive work or long- 



