THE HORSE’S FOOT. 
41 
rough or stony roads, which render the percussion very painful. 
There arises some irritation, which keeps on increasing, and pro¬ 
duces several accidents, such as bruised sole, corns, pumiced feet. 
The horse which has flat feet often has weak walls, and as the 
nails of the shoe become loose, this is often cast. 
By shoeing, one may remedy this bad condition of the foot. 
For this, the foot must be pared flatways, the sole spared, the wall 
relieved only of what is broken off; the frog must be left alone, 
the heels also : a shoe somewhat wide in the web, protecting, 
therefore, the sole more than an ordinary shoe does. It will be 
adjusted so as to rest on the border of the wall only, and not on 
the sole; still, care will be taken not to hollow it too much or to 
excess. Sometimes a thick shoe only is necessary, without in- 
ci eased width. Soles of gntta percha or felt are also used, as we 
will see when speaking of the pumiced foot. 
(b) Pumiced foot (Germ. Vollfuss)—Is thus called the foot 
whose sole projects beyond the level of the wall, and presents a 
convex surface, extending beyond the plantar border, upon which 
the horse rests. It is the exaggeration of the flat foot. In the 
pumiced foot the wall has a great obliquity, sometimes even 
assuming a horizontal direction. 
The horse is never born with such feet; this is a malforma¬ 
tion, accidental, or resulting from various causes. One of the 
most common is lack of care of the foot, of necessary caution, for 
instance, in paring, or shoeing in such a way as to bring the rest 
of the foot on the circumference of the under part in such a way 
that the sole does not touch the ground, and ceases to be pressed 
by it. Too much concavity of the shoe may bring on this result, 
by resting only on a too narrow part of the inferior border of the 
foot; and by opposition, not enough concavity will compress the 
tissues, irritate them, and produce the same alteration. Feet be¬ 
come pumiced by laminitis, but this is complicated with seedy 
toe. Never, then, is the foot pumiced in its whole extent; its 
deformity stops always at the limit of the inferior border of the 
bars ; beyond them, behind, on each side are seen the excavations 
of the lateral lacunae of the frog, so much deeper that the heels are 
higher. The hoof does not preserve its circular shape. It atro- 
