what I have attempted to explain, these gentlemen (in practice) find it expedient to order ‘mild’ or ‘sweating’ blisters to be applied, with, perhaps, an intimation that they will have to be repeated; and, during the interims, they give the groom a bottle of ‘oils,’ because they know that this keeps him contented and in subjection; and thus they, justifiably, obtain rest for the horse. This rest is what they are after; but it won’t, by itself, cure brittle hoof. When Mayhew speaks of the ‘show of mastery in which the ignorant especially delight,’ the ‘ignorant’ is plainly meant to be applied to the owner—or rather to the groom, for he is mostly master. It may be advisable to keep these kinds of things ‘straight,’ and not make oneself misunderstood on both sides.
Brittle hoof, when neglected, or improperly treated, often causes still more serious diseases. Sandcrack be it either in the shape of ‘toe’ or ‘quarter’ crack, is a frequent result; and so is seedy toe, and also pumice foot. They will all succumb to the water cure if the toe at the same time be kept well shortened, or rounded off. Mayhew says that ‘seedy toe has been much thought about, and fancy has been somewhat racked to account for its origin.’ The origin was not far off, and so it got passed over by hasty searchers for some distant cause: it is radically—shoeing. The same cause, as Mr. Douglas states, produces sandcrack. Pumice foot is often to be accounted for through
