Back View of Diseased Foot.
As to conformation, it would seem that the more upright the parts below the fetlock joint, the less elasticity they present, and the more do they assume a mere column of support. In this case the weight of the body falls more directly upon the navicular bone, and the absence of that elastic recoil afforded by the oblique pastern tends to excite disease in it.
Action.—This will commend itself as an exciting cause to anyone who will watch the movement of different horses. The animal who lifts his limbs high in the air and brings them down again almost in the place from which he took them is much more likely to contract the disease than the horse whose movements are less exalted and more progressive. Especially is this the case if the body is loaded with flesh and the horse is in soft condition.
Shoeing.—Notwithstanding the very great benefits which have resulted to shoeing smiths from recent efforts in their behalf by Agricultural Societies and County Councils, there still remains much to be done ere we can claim to have placed the shoeing of horses outside the causes of navicular disease.
It is perfectly true that the impression left on the mind of a visitor to agricultural shows where shoeing competitions are in evidence is usually assuring, but it gives no idea of the general unfitness of the great bulk of the craft to follow the chosen calling of their lives. This is said in no want of respect for the shoeing smith, but rather with the object of drawing attention to him as a much-neglected individual, and one who is always thankful for anything that may be done for him in the way of education.
Paring the sole, the frog and the bars are all still in evidence both in town and country, but it is not always the wish of the shoeing smith that it should be so; too often it is the wish—nay, the will—of the owner or the coachman that the feet shall look smart, and in order to do this the smith abandons his better knowledge to “oblige.”
Nothing tends so much to lay the foundation for navicular disease as the repeated mutilation of these parts in shoeing. The sole, the frog and the bars are together designed among other things to keep the heels apart and protect the sensitive structures within, and notwithstanding this there are still those who for reasons of their own continue to disregard this very obvious truth and to insist on their horses’ feet being cut out of shape and weakened to the last degree. It is never given a thought that thickness of sole and frog is a defensive quality, and to cut them is to weaken them and to expose the parts within to pressure from without. Apart from bearing their share of the weight of the body, the bars are specially intended to keep the heels open and to maintain a healthy state of the foot, which cannot possibly exist where they are repeatedly cut away in the act of shoeing.
