ON THE CONFORMATION OF HORSES. 193 
can take place in a horse having corns merely by paring out the 
horn at the inflexions, and that it becomes absolutely necessary, as 
a means of cure, to allow of this descent and liberty to the impri- 
soned heel, and this can only be effected by leaving space between 
the shoe and foot at the heel, as we constantly are obliged to put 
in practice, or by the use of the bar-shoe or three-quarter shoe, 
&c. Besides all this, if Nature had intended the heels of the 
coffin-bone to yield into the space at the bars, how comes it that 
the greatest depth of horn is precisely at this very spot] and there- 
fore it becomes a necessary question, whether corns should be pared 
out, and whether simply allowing of the motion of the foot will 
not get rid of them. I dare say not a few practitioners could state 
the wonderful effects of tips or three-quarter shoes in these cases. 
Fearing that my meaning respecting conformation, as far as it 
affects the foot, should not be perfectly understood, I think a case 
in point might assist the description. A first-rate race-horse, “The 
Merry Monarch,” is painted by Herring, and his picture is shewn 
to me ; but I have never seen the animal. The artist describes 
him carefully thus, at the foot of the painting : — “ The Merry 
Monarch,” the winner of ‘ the Derby,’ is a bright bay horse, six- 
teen hands high, very light neck, high in his withers, large ribs, 
deep brisket, oblique shoulders, good arms and flat legs, good open 
feet, turns his toes a little out, straight back, tail set on well, 
quarters long, large thighs and gaskins, with good hocks, which he 
rather twists out in his walking.” 
I look at the horse’s picture, and find he is a large bony colt, 
and that he slightly turns out the fore feet, and slightly turns in the 
hind feet. I see that although he has a light neck, yet that he 
has a great preponderance of weight in his fore parts, and that if 
an imaginary perpendicular line were drawn from the arm upwards, 
there would be a considerable quantity of the breast and shoulder 
anterior to this line. I must therefore, in spite of his light head 
and neck, place him in my third or heavy class of conformation. 
Considering the description given by the artist of the horse, and 
comparing it with the picture, I would know, of necessity, that the 
feet would be large and open, what are called “ good feet.” The 
shelving would, of course, be on the outside of the toe. The inner 
heel of the fore foot would be more worn than the outer, and if the 
shoes had been on any time it would be below the level of the 
outer heel. From the action of the hocks, the reverse would take 
place in the hind foot, as the outer quarter would sustain more 
weight and be more worn than the inner, from turning the toes in. 
This extra wear of the inner quarter of the fore foot and outer 
quarter of the hind foot would take place independently of shoe- 
ing ; since it would be exactly the same if the horse were running 
VOL. XXIII. D d 
