Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-09-11
from the Prairie Farmer.l
Ehe HGrsess Foot.

The foot has, with great propriety
been considered a very important
portion of the horse. 1t matters not
what else may be good, if the feet are
bad the horse win be greatly deteriorat-
ed in value. The pace must tell on
them, as it is ''the pace that kills.
They will be sure to get done up on the
road, or perhaps even on the farm. Of
what use are good legs and well built
carcass, when the animal is crippled in
his feet? A man might become a use
full member of society, through the in
strumentality of his brain, although he
used an artificial foot; but horse is
good for nothing if his feet are SO bad
" formed as to be unfit for carrying
him through his work. He would not
even do to breed from, as his own nat
ural defect, in all probability, would
appear in his offspring.
The feet should always bear neat
proportion to the size and weight of the
animal they are destined to carry 1t
is just as bad to be too large as too
small A very large foot, such as we
frequently see on a draught horse, is
particularly liable to descent of the sole
which is a very serious affair; and a
very small one, such as we often see on
the blood horse, is predisposed to con-
traction, which is by nomeans desirable.
Here, as in many other cases, the me-
dunn size is the best. 1t appears to us
that writers generally are not sufficient
y precise in the use of the term ''cOn-
traction. They appear to apply it in
Discriminatory to natural development
and diseased condition of the heel. We
think this is not right. The one might
be called narrow and the other a con-
tracted heel. At all events, the same
term should not be used in both cases
more especially as there is seldom any
difficulty in distinguishing between a
foot which is narrow by nature and one
which is contracted by disease.
1t is question whether or not con-
traction alone may ever be able to pro-
duce inflammation in the foot. TO those
who are not conversant With the nature
of the parts concerned, it appears very
difficult, if not impossible, to determine
with perfect accuracy in every case, the
exact point at which disease may COM
mence. No doubt, in most instances,
contraction is the result of internal in
fiammation, but we think it is going too
far to assert that it never can become
the cause OF internal disease.
The foot which is by nature mule
shaped, is not diseased, and therefore is
not lame. We may call it narrow
foot, but we have no right to call it
contracted one. 1t would be Just as
reasonable to apply the same term to a
narrow counter or a thin shoulder The
word contracted should be used only
when the parts are diseased. The inter
nal and external parts OF a mule-shaped
foot are all made on the same scale, and
consequently bear snch proportion to
each other that they work in harmony.
Not so, however with the real contracted
or diseased foot. In its case, the walls
of the hoOf, from some cause, approx
mate more closely to each other, than
they did in their healthy condition, and
so come to press injuriously upon the
parts contained within their cavity
Tenderness and pain are the inevitable
result. If all the internal parts would
change their form and size at the same
time that the hoof was undergoing its
change, of course actual lameness would
not follow; but this, unfortunately,
does not take place.
The shape of the foot is of quite as
much importance as its size. The hoof
should be rather longer than broad on
its ground surface, and its breadth should
die away gradually towards the heel and
toe, so as to leave the greatest breadth
across the center. 1t should be deep
from the hair to the point of the toe,
and then lessen gradually in hight to-
wards the heel, still, however, preserv-
ing fair amount of thickness. Avoid
a very high heel quite as much as a very
low one; both are decidedly objection
able. IL -