204 THE FORE LIMB, 



should be, is concave in form, the observer need not fear that 

 the frog is too big. Horses which have never been shod, have 

 their frogs much larger, their heels further apart, and the 

 ground surface of their feet of greater area, than those which 

 habitually stand on iron. The cleft of the frog in a healthy 

 foot is merely a slight depression in the centre of the frog, 

 and does not communicate with the sensitive structures 

 immediately above the frog. If the wall be strong and the 

 sole be concave, we may rest assured that the horn which 

 covers the sole is of sufficient substance, provided, of course, 

 that it has not been pared away by the shoeing-smith. 

 Some horses have an excess of soft tissue at the back of the 

 foot, which then makes the distance between the coronet 

 and heels abnormally long. This condition is known as 

 ''boxy" or *' fleshy heels," and is objectionable in that it 

 cramps the action of the foot, and renders it weaker, and 

 consequently more liable to injury, than if the foot were in a 

 normal state. 



An undesirable kind of conformation (Fig. 305) which is 

 sometimes seen, usually in horses that have a combination of 

 cart and thoroughbred blood, is that which gives the hoof the 

 appearance of being too big for the bones which it covers, 

 without being in any way deformed by disease, or by an 

 overgrowth of horn. This condition is due to the pastern 

 bones being slight in comparison to the size of the pedal 

 bone, which, in health, regulates that of the hoof. In such 

 cases, the leg is not alone abnormally weak, but the fact that 

 its bones are not symmetrical, points to the probability that 

 there are, in other parts of the framework, similar instances 

 of lack of harmonious conformation. 



