PRICKS OR STABS IN SHOEING. 
777 
The course of these injuries varies greatly. Superficial injuries some¬ 
times heal without proceeding to suppuration, in six to eight days under 
local cooling treatment and rest. Pododermatitis superficialis produced 
by pricks generally causes suppuration, the pus, if not furnished with an 
artificial outlet, breaking through at the coronet at a point corresponding 
in position with the misdirected nail. Although in such cases spontaneous 
lecovery is usual, it saves time, and the possibility of complications, if 
an exit for pus be provided at some point in the white line. 
As pricks and stabs only occur in those portions of the sensitive 
structures which lie immediately in contact with the os pedis, and are 
unprovided with subcutis, purulent cellulitis is a comparatively rare 
complication, necrosis of the laminae, and even of the os pedis, being 
more frequently seen. As already remarked, the result depends more 
on the kind and degree of infec¬ 
tion than on the extent of injury. 
Direct injuries of the bone lead, as 
a rule, to necrosis, which is apt to 
extend to the neighbouring sensitive 
structures. 
The diagnosis is based partly on 
the fact that the horse goes lame 
soon after shoeing and partly on 
examination of the hoof. For this 
purpose the shoe is removed, and 
the ground surface of the hoof, and 
especially of the white line, well cut 
out, so that the position of the nail 
holes can easily be detected. (For 
further directions, see Dollar and Wheatley’s “ Horse-shoeing and the 
Horse’s Foot,” pp. 378 et seq.) If it is necessary to expose a nail tract, 
it should first be followed through the horn of the sole and white line, 
the wall being spared, so as to preserve a sufficient bearing surface for 
the next shoeing. 
Causes. Want of care and skill on the part of the farrier is the usual 
cause of stabs or pricks, though they may be due to bad feet and to 
the animal’s restiveness, without any fault on the part of the farrier. 
Carelessness in shoeing is shown by the nail holes being misdirected, 
and by their occurring at points where there was not sufficient horn 
to warrant the driving of a nail. The usual causes of stabbing are 
coarsely-punched nail holes and insufficient horn; stubs left in the 
feet rarely occasion pricks by causing the nail to deviate from its normal 
direction. 
The first step in treatment is to remove the nail and shoe. Provided 
Fig. 293.—Cross section of a sound and well- 
shod lioof, showing the proper position 
of the nails, a , Pedal bone ; b, sensitive 
sole ; c, horny sole; cl, horn wall; 
e, dark-coloured outer layer of do. ; 
/, laminal sheath ; g , nails. 
