F A R II I E R Y. 
creafes the circulation of the blood, and other fluids that 
circulate through the body, whereby the difeat'ed parts 
feem to be relieved from an increafed effluence of the 
nervous fluid in the affedted parts. 
On diffedtions of this difeafe, the membranes of the 
joints appear, much thicker than in their natural fdate, and 
fometimes inanifeft a difpofition to ancylofis; in fome of 
tb.e joints it is evidently obferved. The caufes of this 
fevere and ffubborn difeafe are numerous. The firft is 
frequently produced by the injudicious method of wafh- 
insr the legs of a horfe when they are fweating, the effect 
of which produces a fuppreflion of perfpiration, and a con- 
fiderable contraction in the extremities of the capillary 
veffels. This pe'rfpirable humour, checked on a hidden, 
will fix iivevery joint, and will acquire there more or lefs 
acrimony, fronr whence refults a difeafe in the articular 
parts, fimilar to the rheumatifm in the human franje. This 
is evident among horfes belonging to public coaches, 
where fixteen out of twenty labour under the torture ot 
this excruciating difeafe, from no other caufe. The fe- 
cond caufe may proceed from the indolence of fervants, 
in letting the horfe hand long in the cold, in his dirt and 
filth, while in a profufe ffate of perfpiration, after coming 
in from 1 Hinting, ,or labour. The third caufe of founder¬ 
ing will fometimes happen in confequence of breaking and 
riding about a young colt at the age of two years; in 
which cafe, we may conceive how eafy it is to deliroy, for 
ever, the delicacy of their fibres. The fourth caufe of 
foundering is often produced by injudicious (hoeing, by 
which an inflammation of the fenfible frog and laminae is 
infenfibly brought on ; and whence■ alfo refult fo many 
other difeafes of the horfe’s foot, fuel! as corns, fand- 
crack, quitter, canker, contradted feet, See. all which ma¬ 
ladies are heightened and confirmed, by the animal being 
often left to hand in It is muck and filth,- and his juices 
ppifoned by the noxious or mephitic vapours of a foul 
(table. In Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, theCe evils' 
are avoided by the conttrudtion of their (falls. The horfes 
are allowed no litter, but ffand on a railed floor, compofed 
of boards with open (paces between, through which ti e 
faeces and urine pafs away. The animals are in this man¬ 
ner kept'conftantly clean and dry; and to this practice it 
is perhaps owing that, in thofe northern countries, a foun¬ 
dered horfe is fcarcely ever to be feen. It is therefore with 
much gratification we have been informed, that the com¬ 
mander in chief of our armies, his royal higfinefs the 
duke of York, has, by way of experiment, directed fotne 
barracks for the cavalry to be conftrudfcd on the Svvedifh 
plan. 
Indeed, when we confider and compare the important 
functions of the foot, with the delicacy of the parts con¬ 
tained within the hoTif—fee the Farriery Plate XI. fig. 8; 
•—and if we fubjoin the education of thofe to whom cuf- 
tom has too long committed the prefervation of this im¬ 
portant organ, it will create no furprife to find fo many 
Same and foundered horfes, actually owing to the united 
mifehiefs of flupidity and negledt. The cure of foundered 
horfes may be fometimes fuccefsfully attempted, by im- 
merfing a horfe’s legs in a warm bath twice a-day, having 
previoully bliftered every joint from the articulation of 
the Iliouldcrs to the feet. The warm bath muft be con¬ 
tinued fora confiderable time; that is to fay, fix weeks’ 
or two months, taking care to repeat the application of 
bliflers every eight or ten days. This treatment will 
(often the indurated fynovia of the joints, and produce an 
e-xternal irritation on the parts, which fometimes lucceeds 
in reftoring the legs to their natural iupplenefs, particu¬ 
larly if the cafe be recent. 
Sand Cracks. —Thefe are longitudinal fiffures in the 
Iioof, generally near the heels, beginning at the coronet. 
Horles, whole hoofs have become dry and brittle, are 
moll fubjedt to them : they generally occur in the ltot and 
dry months of fummer, and feem to be occafioned by a 
fiiong difpofition in the hoof to contradt, at a time when 
Vol.VII. No.424, 
2Gl 
it is dry and inflexible. They do not always caufe lame- 
nefs, and are fometimes very ealily cured ; but when the 
fiffure is fo deep as to reach the fenfible parts,'it often 
produces very /evere lamenefs, and requires a conlid; ru¬ 
ble time to be completely removed. Having rafped the 
quarter, let the crack be opened with a drawing knife, fo 
that the a final cautery, or red-hot iron, may be applied 
to it ; this will caufe a matter fomewhat refenibling gl.uie 
to exude, which will tend to fill up the fiffure, and pro- 
tedt the fenfible parts that would otherv.ife be expofed. 
The next objedt is to'retrieve the contra dtile difpofition 
of the hoof, without doing which every other remedy 
'would avail little ; this is to be effedted by keeping the 
hoof conftantly nioifl, either by applying feveral folds of 
flannel round the coronet, conftantly wetted ; or by mak¬ 
ing the horfe (land iii moift clay four or five hours during 
the day ; or, where it can be done, by turning the horle 
out to grafs in foft moift ground. 
Corns. —We have already flievvn, p. 243, that corns 
are generally the confequence of bad (hoeing, or of im¬ 
proper management of the foot; and may therefore be 
avoided by following the diredtion's given under our re¬ 
marks on the “ meebaniftn of the foot.” But when they 
do occur, it is necelfary to remove the quick part, or corn, 
with a drawing knife, and to apply the (hoe in fuch a 
manner that the tender part may not receive any p re (lure. 
When long neglecled, we fometimes find matter formed, 
which often breaks out at the coronet; in this cafe if is 
neceflary to make an opening for the matter in the angle 
between the bar and cruft. Let the fore be dreffed with 
compound t infill re of benzoin, and the cavity loofely filled 
with digeftive ointment, which is to be kept in by means 
of the bar fhoe. 
Quittor. —This generally arifes from a wound or 
bruife in tire coronet; and if neglefted, penetrates un¬ 
der the hoof, forming linnfes in various direflions. The 
mod cffeftual method of treating this complaint, is to 
afeertain, in the firft place, the direftion and extent of 
t lie finufes, and then to force into them with a fir ong 
probe fome chryftalized verdigris, rolled up in thin blot¬ 
ting or tiffue paper. This, though apparently a fevere 
remedy, will be found moil effeftual. Sublimate and 
arfeiiic have been ftrongly recommended as remedies for the 
quittor; indeed it is highly probable that any cauftic ap¬ 
plication would eft'eft a cure; and therefore we may cluife, 
as the cafe fliall feem to demand. When a corn has been 
long neglefted, and buffered to break out at the coronet; 
or when the foot has been wounded or pricked by the 
farrier in llioeing, and matter be formed, the cure depends 
on making an opening for the matter in the bottom of 
the foot, where the nail which inflifted the injury en¬ 
tered ; or if produced by a corn, the opening mult be 
made in the angle between the bar and cruft. The belt 
dreffing on thefe occafions is the compound tinfture of 
benzoin, and digeftive ointment; a poultice is fometimes 
required to, foften the horny matter, and fubdue-any in¬ 
flammation that may exift within the coronet. The pro¬ 
per bandatre of thefe occafions is Ihewn in the Farriery 
Plate XII. 
Thrush. —This malady confifts in adifeharge of foetid 
matter from the cleft of the frog, which part is then ge¬ 
nerally rotten, and fo foft as to be incapable of affording 
fufficient protedtion to the fenfible frog which it covers ; 
hence arifes that tendernefs of the foot which is fo often 
obferved. When this complaint attacks the fore feet, it 
is feldom, if ever, an original difeafe, bur merely a fymptom 
or an effcfl:, The caufe is generally a contradtion ot the 
horny matter at the quarters and heels, by which the 
fenfible frog is comprelled and inflamed; the difeharge 
which takes place is a confequence of this inflammation, 
and may be confidered as an effort of nature to cure it. 
The difeharge generally diminifites the inflammation, and 
3 X may 
