412 CONTRACTION THE EFFECT OF DISEASE. 
eased coronet might produce a derangement of the fibres of the 
horn, and thus give pressure on the sensitive parts, so as to pro¬ 
duce pain and lameness ;—I say it might be the case, though I 
have never seen one; but the real contraction, as it is called, 
that is, the contraction alluded to by the Association at the time 
abovementioned, I believe to be not a disease, or the cause of 
pain or lameness, but the effect of a disease in the foot, perhaps 
of the navicular bone, or of its neighbouring parts; and I find in 
my little practice that the navicular disease is generally brought 
on by inordinate work, and never by contraction. I have 
watched the disease many times from its commencement: in 
fact, I have undesignedly produced it myself in several horses 
by hard work. 
I had once a little bay mare, too young and light for my 
weight, which I rode one day after the hounds. On the next 
day I found her lame in one of her fore feet. She pointed her 
foot, and it was very hot. She remained lame for some time ; but 
soon after she was first attacked with this lameness—perhaps in 
a few weeks—I began to see a difference in the size of her feet. 
The diseased foot became contracted, and the pastern more per¬ 
pendicular. 
Another brown mare I hunted hard, and, after a severe hunt on 
heavy land, found her, on the next morning, diseased in both fore 
feet. She walked very tenderly and upright on her pasterns, as 
if shy of throwing her weight on the back parts of her feet. She 
had a beautiful colt’s foot at the time, but remained lame for 
twelve months or more, one foot rather worse than the other. 
Very soon after the attack I began to see that both feet were con¬ 
tracting, which I considered to be for want of pressure on the 
heels, which the animal dared not to give on account of the pain 
around the navicular bone. The lamest foot contracted most. 
Horses’ feet will sometimes contract gradually without any 
preceding lameness. They are generally horses that are ridden 
or driven fast on hard roads day after day. Their feet are only 
tender at first, and the thoughtless rider or driver does not regard 
this as worth his notice: the navicular disease steals on gradually. 
The horse becomes upright in his pasterns, in consequence of 
tenderness of the navicular joint, and contraction follows for want 
of pressure on the posterior part of the foot. The poor animal 
continues to be driven until he becomes a complete cripple. 
I do not mean to say that the navicular disease is always the 
cause of contraction, for 1 once had a fine chestnut mare brought 
to me with a message that she was lame with contraction of the 
foot on one side. I examined her, and found on the contracted 
side ossification of the lateral cartilage. This was the cause of 
the quarter contracting so much that no weight could be thrown 
