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E. L. MORGENROTH. 
gan of touch the foot of the horse is, in spite of its horny envel¬ 
ope, a very delicate organ ; this is proven by the great number 
of nerves which anatomy shows to enter into its organization, 
the knowledge which it possesses of the condition of the ground 
over which it moves, and on which it preserves its equilibrium 
at different paces, whatever may be the form of the ground. 
Not ten per cent, of the horses shod a few years by the sys¬ 
tem in general use, have sound, healthy feet; contractions and 
its consequences, corns, quarter cracks, thickening of the lateral 
cartilages, inflammation and ulceration of the navicular bone and 
coffin joint, with other changes of structure that make the 
horse liable to soreness or incurable lameness ; while horses hav¬ 
ing sound, healthy feet are the exception. 
This could be prevented or cured by good shoeing and 
proper treatment. However, these faults are not wholly to be 
accounted to the shoer. The man who scoops out and rasps the 
foot persistently to make it look artistic, puts the most iron into 
the shoe, and nails it on so firmly that it will remain so indefi¬ 
nitely, and works the cheapest, usually gives the best satisfac¬ 
tion, the owner believing he is getting the most for his money, 
the health of the foot and comfort of the animal being a matter 
of secondary consideration. 
The foot is, next to the eye, the most beautiful and perfect 
in details of its structure, it is in every particular the most per¬ 
fectly adapted of any part of the body for giving the greatest 
possible strength and elasticity, and if not interfered with is 
capable of sustaining all the strain and wear to which it can be 
reasonably subjected. But when exposed to causes which bring 
about disease and change of structure, there are also involved to 
a greater or lesser degree the health and mobility of the entire 
limb. This being true, we want to learn, if we can, the causes 
of these derangements, and how to prevent as well as overcome 
them. Horses shod with the most care according to the fore¬ 
going principles, the bottom of the foot and frog abundantly cut 
away and scooped out, the whole made artistic by rasping down 
the outer surface of the hoof, have the worse condition of feet; 
