CAEE AND MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 811 



foot pad is a common place and the most dangerous, as 

 the navicular bursa is very liable to be punctured. 



Animals employed in building operations, especially where 

 wooden huts are concerned as in military camps, are very 

 liable to suffer from picked up nails. To prevent this, we 

 have been compelled to have all animals engaged in build- 

 ing operations shod with an iron plate under the shoe, and 

 secured like a leather sole. It is made of ordinary gal- 

 vanized iron. 



The worst kind of nail a horse can ' pick up ' is the type 

 used by ' slaters,' the next worst is the French nail. The 

 mechanism by which a horse picks up a nail is by no 

 means clear. Of the many nails one sees lying about 

 practically none are ever found standing on their heads 

 point upwards, yet in some way we are not prepared to 

 explain, the nail gets tilted point upwards and penetrates 

 the foot. It rarely penetrates the sole, nearly always the 

 pad, and unfortunately selects that part which covers the 

 most vital portion of the foot. 



SADDLES, HAENESS, AND DEAUGHT. 



The injuries which saddles and harness, especially the 

 former, are capable of inflicting, are more prominently 

 brought to notice in military than in civil life, owing to the 

 special conditions under which animals have to work on a 

 campaign. 



As a source of animal loss in war sore backs occupy a 

 very important position, not only from the actual amount 

 of inefficiency caused, but from the serious effect they may 

 have on military operations. About one quarter of the 

 total inefficiency and loss on service is due to injuries of 

 this class. 



There are of course special reasons and causes for 

 saddlery and harness injuries assuming such serious pro- 

 portions during war, and these causes we shall presently 

 have to study ; but whether seen in war or peace, the 

 injuries are identical in nature though not in severity, and 



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