ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OP THE HORSE’S FOOT. 3 
weight is thrown upon the front part of the hoof, and the lower 
portion of the limb knuckles forward, as it were (pied rampin 
of the French). At the toe, where the total weight of the 
limb is centred, the growth is exceedingly slow; but towards 
the heels, which do not reach the ground, the hoof is formed 
with very great rapidity. 
Thus, then, the downward descent of the wall is effected in 
a uniform and regular manner from around the coronet, so 
long as the foot is maintained in a perfectly normal condition. 
But when this condition is disturbed or altered, it follows 
that the manner of growth must undergo a change, the secre¬ 
tion becoming increased or retarded, according to circum¬ 
stances, and the horny case irregularly developed—a condition 
which is usually manifested on its surface by the unequal width 
at different points of a zone of horn having the same origin 
from the coronary cushion. A knowledge of this fact is of great 
moment and utility in the management of the horse’s foot, 
and more especially in the operations of farriery. For, as 
insisted upon by the same talented professor so often quoted 
from—M. Bouley—one of the first rules of the farrier’s art is 
to know, on the one hand, how to preserve to the hoof those 
conditions on which its regular form depends, and by proper 
shoeing to maintain the just disposition of the limb and foot; 
and on the other hand, by the intelligence of the artisan, to 
provide for any possible inequality in the keratogenous 
function, by preventing a too exuberant growth at one point, 
or stimulating another to greater activity. 
So long as the weight of the limb and body is fairly dis¬ 
tributed around the circumference of the foot, the w r all of the 
hoof increases to the same extent throughout; but whenever 
the equilibrium is disturbed—so soon as one portion sustains 
more weight and strain than another—the form of the horny 
covering is notably and unfavorably affected. A knowledge 
of this fact aids us very materially in accounting for various 
deformities in this region, and devising measures to obviate 
or remedy them; and so fully confirmed is it by daily 
experience that a new aphorism, which the farrier would do 
well to remember, may be formulated to the effect “ That, 
beyond the normal conditions of support, the growth of horn 
in the different regions of the hoof is in an inverse ratio to the 
degree of pressure to which they are subjected.” 
The farrier has, therefore, the power, to a large extent, to 
hasten or retard the growth of the hoof by the manner in 
which he distributes the pressure around the coronary 
cushion, or, in other words, by leaving one part higher than 
another. And there is also a maxim in farriery, that “ the 
