Rational Horse-Shoeing | Page 6

and the navicular and pastern may take place.
Without expansion there is no possibility of relief; local bleeding,

poulticing, and all the drastic drugs of the veterinary will be invoked in
vain.
QUARTER AND TOE CRACK.
[Illustration: QUARTER CRACK--FULL SHOE.]
This disease, usually attributed to "heat," "dry weather," "weak feet,"
etc., is one of the common symptoms of contraction, and can be
entirely cured with the greatest ease; nor will it ever recur if the hoof is
kept in proper condition.
If the case is recent, shoe as advised in our paragraph upon "Incipient
Unsoundness," being sure to cut the heel well down, putting the bearing
fully upon the frog and three-quarters of the foot. If the hoof is weak
from long contraction and defective circulation, lower the heels and
whole wall, until the frog comes well upon the ground, and shoe with a
"slipper," or "tip," made by cutting off a light shoe just before the
middle calk, drawing it down and lowering the toe-calk partially. This
will seem dangerous to those who have not tried it, but it is not so. The
horse may flinch a little at first, from his unaccustomed condition, and
from the active life that will begin to stir in his dry, hard, and numb
foot, but he will enjoy the change. The healing of the crack will be
from the coronet down, and it is good practice to cut with a sharp knife
just above the split, and to clean all dirt and dead substance out from
the point where you cut, downwards. Soaking the feet in water will
facilitate a cure by quickening the growth of the hoof; or, a stimulating
liniment may be applied to the coronet, to excite more active growth.
Bear in mind that expansion is not from the sole upwards, but from the
coronet downwards.
TOE CRACKS.
The cause of this defect is the same as in quarter crack. It appears in
both fore and hind feet. Clean the crack well, cutting with a sharp knife
the dead horn from each side of it; shoe as advised for quarter crack, or
for the purpose of getting expansion and natural action of the dead,
shelly hoof. The dirt and sand may be kept out of the crack by filling it

with balsam of fir, or pine pitch. Keep the horse at regular work.

[Illustration: QUARTER CRACK--HALF SHOE.]
CHAPTER VI.
DROP SOLE AND PUMICED FOOT.
This miserable condition of the abused animal is Nature's fiercest
protest against the ignorance and carelessness of man. A horse set upon
heavy shoes, and those armed with calks at toe and heel, such as are
usually inflicted upon large draft-horses, has his whole weight placed
upon the unsupported sole. The frog never comes in contact with the
earth in any way, inflammation of the sensitive frog and sole takes
place, and the arch of the sole bends down under the pressure until the
ground surface of the hoof becomes flat or convex, bulging down even
lower than the cruel iron that clamps its edge. This is the condition of a
drop sole. This degenerate state of the foot has other complications.
Active inflammation is often present and all the wretchedness of a
pumiced foot--the despair of owner and veterinary--is experienced. The
smith, whose clumsy contrivance has been the cause of all the woe, has
abundant reasons to offer for the disease, and his unfailing resort of the
"Bar Shoe." This atrocious fetter is supplemented with leather pads,
sometimes daubed with tar, and the horse hobbles to his task. Not
unfrequently the crust at the front of the hoof sinks in, adhering to the
sole; circulation being cut off,
SEEDY TOE
is then manifest.
The only possible relief from these complications is in natural action.
Contraction is not present, but we want circulation, new growth and
absorption; we obtain it by dressing the foot smoothly with the rasp and
putting the bearing evenly upon the frog and a light shoe, which should
be merely a continuation of the wall of the foot. Many very bad cases

shod in this way have been relieved. No grease or tar should ever be
used.
CONTRACTION, OR DROP SOLE, WITH SORENESS AT THE
TOE.
Shoe as previously directed, and rasp or cut the sole and wall at the toe
into a slightly hollow shape, so that you could pass a knife-blade
between the hoof and shoe. The object of this is to relieve the hoof
from pressure at this point. In cases where the toe is thin and weak, or
where there is inflammation extending to the point of the frog, remove
as much of the sole pressing against the frog as seems feasible, and
level the toe-calk, so that the horse will bear upon the frog and
side-calks.
It is