65 
LAMENESS IN THE FEET OF HORSES. 
rally the inside quarter, though I have observed this on the 
outside. 
Novv, let us suppose a narrow heeled horse (one whose feet are 
somewhat contracted, or suspicious as they are sometimes called, 
but yet known always to have been free from lameness), to be 
loose in a large box, except during his two or three hours’ daily 
work, which we will say shall average from six to ten miles an 
hour; let such a horse have, in addition to the indulgence of a well 
strawed loose box,—first, a real strap for his groom, who will as regu¬ 
larly remember the stopping box as his supper; secondly, a thought¬ 
ful, steady master; thirdly, a farrier with as much common sense as 
would enable him to shorten the toe, lower the heels, and thin the sole 
to a nicety, at the expiration of every three weeks; but this farrier 
must also be an artist sufficient to make a seated shoe of an equal 
thickness heel and toe (which latter may be slightly elevated), 
and he must secure the shoe by nailing all round the toe, and 
avoiding the inside heel, and even the quarter, as much as possi¬ 
ble. By these arrangements a salutary secondary pressure will 
be secured to the frog, particularly when the horse is at his work. 
I use the words secondary pressure as a distinguishing mark 
from the frog pressure, which has been so long insisted on by 
Professor Coleman; and, if I mistake not, this gentleman incul¬ 
cates the necessity of the foot being shod with the frog exposed, at 
least, on a level with the heels of the shoe. 
Experience has convinced me, as well as Mr. Coleman, that 
frog pressure is both natural and beneficial; but I have found, 
with many other practitioners, that, in the present improved state 
of our roads, the sensitive foot cannot sustain the shock arising 
from the frog receiving the repetition of violence from the hard 
ground in an equal proportion with the heels of the shoe. 
I therefore advise that the frog be brought as near to the ground 
as possible, except by so much of the heels of the shoe as may be 
necessaiy to break the force of concussion, and yet allow the frog 
to receive some part of the pressure, in a secondary manner, before 
the foot quits the ground. 
The base of the frog, that is the larger half of its horny and 
fatty part, together with most of the inferior and lateral cartilages, 
and part of the coronary ligament, are placed behind the flexor 
tendon, forming, perhaps, the most beautiful specimen of an elastic 
body in the animal creation. 
Now, I conceive that, in addition to this organ acting as a most 
powerful spring in opposing concussion, by greatly increasing 
the ground surface of the foot, and affording a larger basis to re¬ 
ceive the weight, it thereby relieves the flexor tendon of a part of 
