HORSESHOEING. 151 



Green horses with wide hoofs, just from the pasture, are par- 

 ticularly liable to this form of contraction. As a rule, the lame- 

 ness does not disappear completely until the wall has assumed 

 its natural, straight direction by growing down properly from the 

 coronary band. 



In dressing the hoof and applying the bar-shoe, care must be 

 taken that the lower border of the wall underneath the painful 

 area is lowered so much that it will not receive direct pressure 

 from the shoe. 



(6) Contraction of the Sole.— This is accompanied by an unnat- 

 ural direction of the wall. Instead of the wall being straight 

 from the coronet to the shoe, it describes a curve whose con- 

 vexity is outward (keg-shaped, claw-shaped when seen from the 

 side). The hoof seems constricted (tied in) at the coronet and 

 at its plantar border, the sole is abnormally concave (arched), 

 and the plantar surface of the hoof is considerably shortened 

 from toe to heel. 



It happens in both shod and unshod horses, with otherwise 

 strong hoofs. 



Causes. — Principally dryness, too little exercise, and shoes 

 without horizontal bearing-surface. 



The treatment is correspondingly simple : flat shoes with per- 

 fectly horizontal bearing-surface, and in very strongly marked 

 cases chps at the ends of the branches (buttress clips). 



In all forms of contraction of the hoof abundant exercise and the 

 maintenance of the natural pliancy of the horn by daily moistening 

 (washing) with water are absolutely necessary for successful treat- 

 ment. 



4. The Wry Hoof. 



If one side wall and quarter is steep, and the other very slant- 

 ing or oblique, we term such a hoof a " wry hoof." Such a 

 hoof divided in the middle line presents two very dissimilar 

 halves. There are three classes of wry hoofs: 1, normal wry 

 hoofs (see page 67) ; 2, pathological wry hoofs, or hoofs con- 

 tracted in one quarter (see contracted hoofs) ; 3, wry hoofs 



