a forward direction. That
portion of the wall next to the coronary border, about 1/2 inch in breadth,
should not be touched. At this point the thinning should commence, should
be at its greatest, and lessen gradually downwards until at the inferior
margin of the wall the normal thickness of horn is left. The animal is then
shod with a bar shoe and the hoof bound with a bandage soaked in a mixture
of tar and grease, in order to keep the thinned portion of the wall from
cracking. In this condition the animal may remain at light labour.

When possible, however, it is better to combine the thinning process thus
described with turning out to grass. In this case the ordinary shoe is
first removed, and the foot poulticed for twenty-four hours to render
the horn soft. The foot is then prepared by slightly lowering the
heels--leaving the frog untouched--and thinning the quarters in exactly the
manner described above.

After this is done, the animal is shod with an ordinary tip, a sharp
cantharides blister applied to the coronet, and then turned out in a damp
pasture. In this case the object of the tip is to throw the weight on
to the heels and quarters. The thinned horn yields to the pressure thus
applied, and a hoof with heels of a wider pattern commences to grow down
from the coronet. Two to three months' rest is necessary before the animal
can again he put to work.[A]

[Footnote A: This is the treatment strongly advocated by A.A. Holcombe,
D.V.S., Inspector, Bureau of Animal Industry, U.S.A.]

_(b) Thinning the Wall in the Region of the Toe_.--This is done with
the idea that the tendency of the heels to expand under pressure of the
body-weight is helped by the thinned portion at the toe allowing the heels
to more readily open behind. Seeing that in the case of toe sand-crack the
converse is argued--that contraction of the heels readily takes place and
forces the sand-crack wider open--it is doubtful whether this method is of
any utility in treating contracted heels.

_(c) Grooving the Wall Vertically or Horizontally, and Shoeing with a Bar
Shoe_.--Marking the wall with a series of grooves, each running in a more
or less vertical direction, was suggested to English veterinarians by
Smith's operation for side-bones.

The manner of making the grooves, and the instruments necessary, will be
found fully described in Section C of Chapter X.

That the method is followed by satisfactory results the undermentioned case
will sh