24 The Diseases of Animals 
kept clean, and diseases such as scratches, mud fever 
and others, all caused by irritation from mud or dirt, 
are prevented. 
THE CARE OF THE FEET 
[he feet of animals should be looked after fre- 
quently and all accumulations of dirt removed. This 
is especially important with horses. Their feet should 
be examined and seraped out in the morning before 
being sent to work and at night after returning, as 
it is very common to find foreign bodies, such as 
nails and stones, either driven into the wall or sole 
of the foot, or collected in the elefts of the frog or 
between the bars and the frog. If the hoofs show 
a tendency to’ dry out and become hard and brittle 
they should be softened with some good oil or hoof 
ointment. If they are ragged and tend to split, 
they should be rasped on the edges and trimmed un- 
til smooth. When animals are closely confined in 
stalls, especially on bedding, the hoofs grow out long; 
and if not treated they will deform the animal and 
make traveling extremely difficult. This condition is 
often observed in sheep, cattle and horses when they 
do not get exercise enough to wear away the horn 
as rapidly as it grows. The hoofs of such animals 
can be trimmed by paring them with a knife, or, 
better, in most cases, by using hoof-paring instru- 
ments which are made for farriers. These resemble 
in construction a pair of pincers. In paring hoofs, 
care should be exercised not to eut them too short, 
