154 HORSESHOEING. 



wall, it will touch only at the coronet and at the plantar border, 

 showing that the wall is concave. The distance of the middle of 

 this wall from the straight edge shows us how much too wide this 

 half of the wall is at its plantar border, and how much of the 

 outer surface of the wall at its plantar border should be removed 

 with the rasp. The restoration of a crooked hoof to its normal 

 form requires several shoeings. 



6. Ossification of the Lateral Cartilage (Side-Bone). 



The ossification of a lateral cartilage consists in a change of 

 the cartilage into bone. Heavy horses are more frequently 

 affected than lighter ones. It most often involves the outer car- 

 tilages of the forefeet, seldom both cartilages. Side-bones always 

 interfere with the physiological movements of the foot, and may, 

 indeed, entirely suppress them. 



The disease can only be diagnosed with certainty after the 

 upper part of the cartilage has ossified. The coronet is then 

 rather prominent (bulging), and feels hard. The gait is short and 

 cautious, and well-marked lameness often follows severe work. 

 As causes, may be mentioned predisposition in heavy lymphatic 

 horses, and violent concussion or shock due to fast work upon 

 hard roads. The disease is incurable. 



A special method of shoeing is only necessary when the outer 

 cartilage is ossified and the quarter upon that side is contracted. 

 After removing the old shoe, whose outer branch is, as a rule, 

 more worn away than the inner, the outer wall will always be 

 found too high, due to the fact that there has been little or no 

 expansion and contraction in this quarter and, therefore, little or 

 no wear of the horn against the shoe. The hoof is therefore wry, 

 — on the outside too high, and on the inside too low. This shows 

 us how the foot should be dressed so as to obtain a proper base of 

 support and a uniform wear of the shoe. The most suitable shoe 

 is a flat shoe, whose outer branch must be wider than the inner. 

 It is so applied that the inner branch follows the edge of the wall 

 closely, while the outer branch must be full and at the quarter 



