THE HORSE’S FOOT. 
1005 
limb below the knee, unless from some external cause, that the 
cause cannot be traced to the hoof, and must be removed before 
the injury can be permanently relieved. 
If we are called to see a horse suffering with some injury to 
a muscle, tendon or ligament, not traceable to any external 
cause, we must account for it in one of two ways : that it was 
either unequal to the task of performing its work, or there was 
imposed upon it more work than it was intended to perform. 
As to which it was, we can be reasonably sure, by examining 
the same part of the opposite limb, and finding it free from in¬ 
jury. 
But if the work of this part of the limb has been increased, 
that of some other part or parts must have been lessened to the 
same extent.. And as this transfer of work from one part of the 
limb to another can only be caused by a change in the relation 
of the parts to each other, and as we know the relation of those 
parts depends upon the shape and position of its base—the 
hoof—it would seem that w 7 e would have to seek relief for our 
trouble at that point. 
Again, it is an undisputable fact that owners of some run¬ 
ners have been known to wait for their quarters to break before 
expecting them to win a race. And there is no question but 
some of those horses have run faster with broken and bleeding 
quarters than they could with the hoof intact. 
Now, anyone knows that the breaking of that hoof, and the 
rupturing of that most sensitive tissue—the laminae—causes 
pain to the animal. But the pain it caused was less than that 
caused by the distorted shape of the hoof which was responsible 
for the quarter-crack. 
But, gentlemen, I know that I have taxed your patience to 
the limit of its endurance, and will conclude by thanking you 
for your kind attention, and requesting a liberal exchange of 
views upon the subject of my paper. 
_ 
The severe street conditions this winter in the cities have 
made much work for veterinarians. 
