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 Rh CHAPTER XI.

BRITTLE HOOF AND THE TREATMENT IT GETS—THE ‘WATER-CURE’ MORE EFFECTIVE—BRITTLE HOOF OFTEN LEADS TO SANDCRACK, SEEDY TOE, AND PUMICE FOOT—HARD ROADS  ARE FAVOURABLE TO THE UNSHOD HOOF.

hoof is so common that all perhaps are alive to some of the vexations it causes. But only when it gets very advanced is it taken in  hand, and it is then treated by some kind of ‘hoof  ointment,’ joined to ‘stoppings’ of various kinds,  with a blister, mercurial ointment, or a stimulating  liniment applied over the coronet. The first two only aggravate the disease.

Mr. Douglas says: ‘The rules for keeping a horse’s  feet healthy, and preserving the horn, are to use  nothing but water to the hoofs—either as a cleanser  or an ornamenter;  and never allow horses to stand  upon litter during the day. Grease or tar, by shutting up the pores in the horn, prevent the  natural moisture from reaching the surface out-wardly, and the air from circulating inwards—consequences which act upon the horn with ruinous  results.’ Lieutenant-Colonel Burdett has, within  the last few weeks, expressed his opinion of grease