450 
OBSERVATIONS ON SOUNDNESS. 
siology of the foot. The more I see and read, and the more 
I reflect upon the subject, the stronger is the fact impressed 
upon me. I hope, however, that a new light has already 
begun to shine upon this part of the structure of the horse. 
It is needless to remind the merest tyro of the importance 
to be attached to a careful inspection of the foot, nor is it 
necessary I should more than hint that no two horses have 
the same shaped feet, any more than two heads are precisely 
alike: hence the difficulty in arriving at anything like a de¬ 
finite description of the outward form of the foot of a stalled 
horse. One author writes one thing, while another describes 
the shape and form of the foot according to his notions. The 
former may be as correct as the latter, and the foot described 
by the latter as healthy as that of the former. It is not 
requisite that we should be able to state, upon mathematical 
precision, what the exact shape of the foot ought to be; I 
think we may be satisfied to know that the foot we are looking 
at in an examination has nothing to offend the eye. This is going 
as far as there appears to me to be a necessity for doing. 
The pathology of the foot will be more advantageously con - 
sidered subsequent to a few remarks as to its anatomy and 
physiology. 
The foot, as it appears before us in its natural state resting 
upon the ground, is nothing more than a portion of horn formed 
into a cone. A man in total ignorance of the anatomical 
structure of the horse would scarcely believe that the horny 
part of the foot denominated “ hoof” contains such a variety 
of structures within its walls. Taking it as a whole, it seems 
to be well adapted for all uses, and one could hardly imagine 
how the parts are so liable to derangement; but when we 
have ascertained, by a little reflection, how nature^s laws are 
interfered with in our daily use of the horse, we shall no longer 
feel surprise at the various diseases met with in the foot, but 
give place to wonder that it is capable of resisting all the wear 
and tear and hardship to which it is exposed. 
Th Qform of the hoof in a foal is different to that of the 
grown-up horse. In its after growth it not only alters in 
size, but in shape also. The foaFs foot is said to be conoid, 
and the adult almost circular. This will apply more imme¬ 
diately to those feet which have not had the assistance of the 
farrier to change their shape. Soil, and the various kinds of 
work which the young animal is called upon to perform, ex¬ 
ercise considerable influence in the growth of the foot. I 
believe it is a received opinion that no particular form has 
been of late assigned to the foot, and it is also a pretty well 
ascertained fact that a foot is not contracted unless it can be 
