only of a low type, renders the
horn of the hoof hard and dry, and only with difficulty will the ordinary
foot instruments cut it. This in its turn leads to cracks and fissures in
various places, but more especially in the bars and what is left of the
frog. Often, too, cracks will appear in the horn of the quarters, and a
troublesome and incurable form of sand-crack results.

An animal with contraction advanced as far as this, especially if confined
to one foot, goes unmistakably lame. With both feet affected, he ordinarily
starts out from the stable in a manner that is commonly called 'groggy.' In
other words, the gait is uncertain, and feeling; and stumbling is frequent.
Anyone who has had the misfortune to drive an animal with feet in this
condition knows full well that every little irregularity in the road at
once makes itself felt to the feet, and that the animal, as time goes on,
learns to carefully avoid any suspicious-looking group of stones he may
see. To drive an animal like this is to keep one's self continually on
tenter-hooks, for, sooner or later, the inevitable happens, and the animal
comes down.

Up to now we have described the changes of form in the hoof as seen when
the contracted foot is viewed from the solar surface. With those changes as
evident as we have depicted them, there will be no difficulty in detecting
the alterations in the form of the wall.

In addition to a narrowing from side to side there will be noticed an
abnormal straightness of the quarters, with a turning in, more or less
sudden, of the heels. This effect is given in these cases by the smith
maintaining the shoe of a length and width that should normally fit a foot
of that particular animal's size and substance. This is probably done with
the idea of deceiving anyone examining the solar surface. Viewed from this
position, the width of the shoe at the heels gives the impression that it
is attached to a foot of normal breadth. This deception is heightened if
at the same time has been practised the process of 'opening up the heels.'
That expression indicates that the bars have been removed, and the lateral
lacunae of the frog made to continue the concavity of the sole. The arch of
the latter is thus made to appear of much greater extent than it really is,
and the heels, by reason of their being abruptly cut off when removing the
bars, also convey the false impression of being wide apart.

The practitioner unversed in the tricks of