DISEASES OF THE HORSE.

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 21 May 1913, Page 1

DISEASES OF THE HORSE.

(Continued). CORNS.

A corn is an injury to the horn of the foot, at the same time involring' the tissues beneath, causing rupture of the minute blood vessels and the es* cape of blood, which, by permeating the horn in the neighbourhood, giv.: ;-> it a dark colou* when cut down -uj? Corns are usually situated 'on the iusi of the foot, between the bars ami i wall of the hetl. Many horses lm>-. Much corns, and never suffer lameness while properly looked after. If however, the farrier fails to keep a corn pared, or puts on a shoe having a bear* ing upon the part, lameness soon results, and festering too often follows. The shoeing-smith, or farrier, as he is more properly called, usually gets all the credit of producing corns in horses, but in this and many other oases he gets more than bis share of the blame. Corns much more ofteo^arise from the owner's meanness or the gjeom'i neglect than from the farrier's method of shoeing. "While the horse's foo^Tcontinues to grow the shoe does not, and the shoe that once had a bearing o , the crust oniy, finally presses upon the seat of the corn, and produces the mischief we. have now under consideration |If the horse-owner insists upon wear- ! ing out shoes to the thinness of a sixpence, no matter how long they may have been on, he has only himself to blame if corns result. Some horses initifclow, fiat feet, like those of the Netherlands, have a predisposition to .corns, whjle the: upright feet of the *Aiab type are not soßuceptible.: When a corn festers and causes lameness, the knife must be used freely to lay it bare,"and ung. resinae, or other drawing or digestive material applied, and the whole foot should bo enveloped in a poultice. If this is done promptly relief is soon obtained, and the parts may be hardened oft with ) liq antim chlor ox tar on tow, and tht> shoe replaced so as to have no bearitV / upon the tender parts. If this is ■, done in good time the matter wi break out at sthe Coronet. Bar-eUoe and other contrivances help to reduce the bad results of corn, but it if* * serious objection to'a hoipe, and a"! ways liable to be a cause of lament^*-. In New Zealand the customary treatment of corns in horses is to pO'.u - then the part is opened and wash with an antiseptic lotion. Gentie -.--. - 4 cisc is better than rest. '■ f ;. -