hen the shoe of the hind foot strikes and injures the heel or quarter
of the forefoot the horse is said to overreach. It rarely happens except
when the animal is going fast; hence is most common in trotting and
running horses. In trotters the accident generally happens when the
animal breaks from a trot to a run. The outside heels and quarters are
most liable to the injury.

_Symptoms._--The coronet at the heel or quarter is bruised or cut, the
injury in some instances involving the horn as well. When the hind foot
strikes well back on the heel of the fore foot--an accident known among
horsemen as "grabbing"--the shoe may be torn from the forefoot or the
animal may fall to its knees. Horses accustomed to overreaching are
often "bad breakers," for the reason that the pain of the injury so
excites them that they can not readily be brought back to the trotting
gait.

_Treatment._--If the injury is but a slight bruise, cold-water bandages
applied for a few days will remove all the soreness. If the parts are
deeply cut, more or less suppuration will follow, and, as a rule, it is
well to poultice the parts for a day or two, after which cold baths may
be used, or the wounds dressed with tincture of aloes, oakum, and a
roller bandage.

When an animal is known to be subject to overreaching, he should never
be driven fast without quarter boots, which are specially made for the
protection of the heels and quarters.

If there is a disposition to "grab" the forward shoes, the trouble may
be remedied by having the heels of these shoes made as short as
possible, while the toe of the hind foot should project well over the
shoe. When circumstances permit of their use, the fore feet may be shod
with the "tips" instead of the common shoe, as described in treatment
for contracted heels.

CALK WOUNDS.

Horses wearing shoes with sharp calks are liable to wounds of the
coronary region, either from trampling on themselves or on each other.
These injuries are most common in heavy draft horses, especially on
rough roads and slippery streets. The fore feet are more liable than the
hind ones, and the seat of injury is commonly on the quarters. In the
hind feet the wound often results from the animal resting with the heel
of one foot set directly over the front of the other. In these cases the
injury is generally close to the horn, and often involves the coronary
band, the sensitive laminae, the extensor tendon, and even the coffin
bone.