. The principles and practice of veterinary surgery . ausing the contraction of the heel; for when the pressure is removed from their inner surfaces, they then tend to assume their natural position in virtue of their elasticity; and the pressure they exercise upon the sensitive frog forces the heel into its original shape. Briefly, they may 330 DISEASES OF THE FEET. be said to be forced to expand when the foot is on the ground,and that they actively assist contraction when the weight, whichforces the sensitive frog upwards and outwards, is removed fromthe foot. It must not be understood that I
. The principles and practice of veterinary surgery . ausing the contraction of the heel; for when the pressure is removed from their inner surfaces, they then tend to assume their natural position in virtue of their elasticity; and the pressure they exercise upon the sensitive frog forces the heel into its original shape. Briefly, they may 330 DISEASES OF THE FEET. be said to be forced to expand when the foot is on the ground,and that they actively assist contraction when the weight, whichforces the sensitive frog upwards and outwards, is removed fromthe foot. It must not be understood that I am advocating the theorythat the foot expands upon its inferior surface ; that suppositionshould be disregarded; but no one can deny, what is ap-parent to the most ordinary observer, that the foot expands atthe coronet and heels; not the horny foot, but the soft parts ofthe heels and coronet. To prevent undue expansion of these,the lateral cartilages are placed as elastic sides. Ossifiailiim III llii. Lateral Cartilages.—^As already stated, side^. Fig. 58 shows ossification of the lateral cartilages, withfracture of the altered structure upon one side, at its junc-tion with the pedal bone. bones are commonly met with in heavy draught horses; indeed,a great majority of this c]ass is found so affected by the time theanimal is six or seven years old; and this seems to arise fromthe over-expansion of the cartilages caused by the great weightof the animal. The process of ossification is very often a slowone, unaccompanied by any acute inflammatory action, givingthe animal no pain, and causing no lameness. The causes of ossification of these cartilages are—^hereditaiytendency, and shoeing with high calkins. It is generally ad-mitted that the predisposition to side-bones is hereditary, and OSSIFICATION OF THE LATERAL CARTILAGES. 331 many breeders of the best class of cart-horses, being aware otthe fact, are careful not to breed from an animal with them. High-heeled shoes prove a
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