Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1907-12-06
II COLTS FEET.

When the colt Is taken in from the pas
ture its hoofs are usually long, and ex-
tending down below the sole for a more
or less considerable distance so that when
it is put upon the hard floor or allowed
10 exercise upon the frozen ground, the
hoofs breaks off ~irregularly or where 1t
does not break off il is very likely TO
wear uneven and then the weight of the
body upon the legs has a tendency to put
them out of the proper alignment thereby
throwing too much strain upon some parts
while other parts do not have to sustain
their proper amount of weight.
And this unequal distribution of weight
has a tendency to produce an excessive
development of the parts that bear the
heavy portion while the other parts do
not fully develop, and as the colt grows
TO maturity this disproportionate develop
ment of the foot and leg is very likely TO
continue with the result that when ma
turity is reached or before, these parts
are IN such a preserved condition that they
soon give out under the strain work and
the animal goes lame with what is very
often an incurable trouble. Much of this
could be obviated if a little attention was
given to the foot, especially when the ami
NAL is taken from the soft cushion like
ground of the pasture and placed in the
hard floor of the stable or frozen ground.
1t IS not difficult TO level up a colts
feet. All the tools that are needed Is a
pair Of hoof cutting pinchers and a hoof
rasp. TIL long parts of the hoofs can be
removed with the pinchers, and after
these are removed the wall can be leveied
and smoothened with the rasp. 1t should
not take over five or ten minutes to prop
erly treat all four feet of a small colt.
And If 1t is done at the proper time
SPAWN and ringbOne and such diseases
will not be SO prevalent.
Again the free high stepping gait of a
colt is often materially interferred with be-
cause of the improper developments of the
foot and leg.
This may appear like a little thing and
all theory to many farmers, but when you
take into consideration the number of
steps that an animal takes in travelling a
mile, and figure the length of time 1t re-
quires to take a step, or to put it another
way figure the number of steps an animal
takes per minute in travelling four or five
miles an hour, one can readily see that a
very slight im~perceptible hitch at each
step, would soon amount to considerable
and then take into consideration the fact
that the animal not only has to carry its
own weight besides such a load as may
be behind and also this defect due to
faulty development, 1t should be evident
to all that a small defect will In reality
amount to much at the close of the day.
And this day after day Will sooner of later
tell upon the vitality of the parts IL not
upon the general system of the animal.
All are familiar with the old adage, no
foot no horse" But few people like to
drive a lame horse consequently any
lameness especially one that is likely to
remain permanent, very materially re-
duces the value of the animal.
Ordinarily the sole and frog of the foot
of a colt should not be interferred with
any more thar IS necessary to level up the
foot. But whenever the wall breaks off
u~nevenly or one side of the foot grows
longer than the opposite the foot should
be leveled up.