But when overwork affects the natural functions of the body, the two kinds of horn do not unite; their division invariably begins at the toe, as it always commences in the nail of the human being at the outer margin. If the seedy toe be tapped or gently struck, it emits a hollow sound; and if the shoe be removed, there will be found a vacant space between the two layers of horn; into this space a nail, a piece of broom, or a straw is commonly pushed, to ascertain the depth of the lesion.
THE APPEARANCE PRESENTED BY SEEDY TOE WHEN THE SHOE IS REMOVED, AND THE GROUND SURFACE OF THE WALL IS INSPECTED.
Mr. Spooner advised that the whole of the detached horn should be cut away. The writer, however, insists that the horse should be thrown up—not turned out to grass, but placed in an airy, loose box, and liberally fed, or otherwise so treated as its condition may require. Once every fortnight, for two months, the smith should inspect the foot, and should cut away so much of the outer wall as may still be disunited. It commonly takes three or four months for the hoof to grow down or to become perfect; and rest, with liberal feeding, during this time, is sufficient to renovate an exhausted frame. A new and sound covering for the hoof of the invigorated horse is secreted by the expiration of the period named; nor has it reached the knowledge of the writer that any animal, after such a mode of treatment, has been liable to a second attack.
THE APPEARANCE OF THE HOOF AFTER THE SEEDY TOE HAS BEEN REMOVED WITH THE KNIFE.
The ordinary method of cure is to cut away the hoof; then, having nailed a shoe on, to send the disfigured horse to resume labor. Under this form of treatment, the seedy division, once confined to the toe, has extended to the quarters; the structure of the hoof being destroyed, the horn was unfitted for its purposes. The weight of the body forced the sensitive laminæ from the coronary secretion, and the foot, after long treatment, became a deformity. The author has never beheld so lamentable a termination; but it is described by writers upon seedy toe with a complacency which seems to regard so grievous a result as the natural consequence of an intractable disorder.
TREAD AND OVERREACH.
Tread is a very rare occurrence with light horses; the author has met with but one instance. Then, from the horse being a good stepper, and from the accident happening toward the end of a long journey, as well as from certain indications of the wound itself, it was conjectured to have occurred in the manner depicted below.