HOOF
.—The hoof of a horse is that hard and horny substance at the lower extremity of the legs, coming into contact with the ground, and upon which are placed shoes, made of iron, for the preservation of the feet. The hoof, to be perfect and uniform, should nearly circumscribe five eighths of a circle, with a transverse line from one point of the heel to the other, as if a segment of three eighths was taken away; in addition to which form, it should be solid in substance, smooth to the hand, and free from the contracted rings, or wrinkles, similar to those upon the horns of cattle, by which the age is ascertained.
Hoofs are very different in both property and appearance, and a great deal of this depends upon the manner in which they are treated. The well-known and well-founded adage, that "Doctors differ," was never more verified than in the subject before us; previous to the necessary remarks upon which, it will be proper to point out the distinct or opposite texture and property of such hoofs, before we advert to the most applicable mode of treatment for each. The hoofs of some horses are so naturally dry, and so defective in animal moisture, that they gradually contract, become apparently compressed, and narrow at the heel, as well as acquire a degree of brittleness hardly to be believed; in which state splinters are frequently scaling off from the EDGES of the HOOF, at many places where the nails are unavoidably inserted to secure the position of the SHOE, for the preservation of the FOOT.
These are the species of hoof much more susceptible of injury than any other, particularly of SANDCRACKS; defects which, when they happen, very much reduce the value of the horse if offered for sale; not more in respect to the BLEMISH, than the perpetual apprehension and expectation of his becoming irrecoverably LAME. Hoofs of this description should be plentifully impregnated with sperma-cæti oil every night all round the foot; and the bottom should be stopped with a composition of stiff cow-dung, and the skimming of the pot in which fat meat has been boiled, previously preserved, and well incorporated for that purpose. It has been asserted by those who speculate, and propagate the report of fancy for FACT, that "unctuous or greasy applications are prejudicial to the feet," of which indefinite, vague and imperfect expression, the weak and wavering happily avail themselves, and boldly declare, under sanction of the equivocal mutation in meaning, that every thing greasy is injurious to the HOOFS.
It is a degree of justice that so egregious an absurdity should be exposed. Without descending to a minute and scientific analyzation of the hoof in its animated state, to ascertain how far it is, or is not, a POROUS substance, it becomes only necessary to demonstrate its possessing the property of ABSORPTION from external application. That this may be the more clearly comprehended, let it be remembered, if a single drop of SPERMA-CÆTI OIL is left upon a quire of white paper, it will, by its penetrative property, pass through each leaf of the quire, till every particle of its moisture is exhausted, where it terminates in a space little larger than the point of a needle: from whence it is fair to infer, this article, in a state of perfect liquefaction, will insinuate itself into, or go through, any possible substance where a liquid can be supposed to pass: this admitted, upon clear and indisputable proof, it becomes necessary to proceed to its effect upon the dry, hard, contracted, brittle hoof of the HORSE.
If the foot is held up from the litter with the hand, and with the stable-brush well impregnated with oil, so as to be left tolerably wet upon the surface, persevering patience (by holding the foot from the ground a few minutes) will prove, that the oil with which the hoof was so plentifully basted, has nearly DISAPPEARED, although no drop has fallen to the ground. What will the rigid disputant, or cynical Sceptic, oppose to this fact, when asked what is become of the OIL so recently laid on? From the fertile resources of "EXHALATION," "EVAPORATION," or even "running off," he can derive no assistance to support him in the erroneous opinion he has formed; and perhaps an obstinacy, from time and custom become habitual, will not permit him (till his judgment is more matured by experience) to admit, that it is lost to the eye, and taken up by ABSORPTION. This, however, is the fact, and to the incredulous, who are open to conviction, and willing to make the experiment, it will appear, that this treatment of the hoof, and the STOPPING previously mentioned, (if nightly persevered in,) will, in less than THREE SHOEINGS, completely restore and improve the most brittle and battered hoofs in the kingdom. So much cannot be said of unctuous or greasy substances; for, from their confidence, not possessing the property of penetration, they can add none to the EXPANSION of the HOOF; from the dry and preternaturally contracted state of which the defect generally arises; and by the additional growth and distension of the hoof alone can be relieved.