When perforation of the sole is absent, and when serious alteration in the shape of the horny box has not occurred, then the most simple treatment is to put the animal straight away to slow work, with the feet protected by suitable shoes.

Here, again, the most useful shoe is the Rocker Bar (Fig. 119).  The broad web and deep seating gives ample protection to the convex sole, and with the ease in distributing his weight that this shoe affords the animal is able to perform slow work on soft lands with some degree of comfort.

Should the growth of the horn at the toe and at the heels be unduly excessive, then our attention may be directed towards reducing it to some approach to the normal.  This is accomplished by removing with the rasp and the knife those portions indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 127.  Here it will be seen that the bulk of the horn removed is that protruding at the toe.  After this the animal should again be suitably shod.  In this connection it should be noted that the fact of the animal walking largely on the heels tends to a forward displacement of the shoe.  This must be prevented by providing each heel of the shoe with a clip, after the manner shown in Fig. 128; or, in the case of a bar shoe, supplying it with a clip at the centre of the bar.

[Illustration:  FIG. 126.—­DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING THE ABNORMAL GROWTH OF HORN AT THE TOE AND HEELS OF THE FOOT WITH CHRONIC LAMINITIS.]

[Illustration:  FIG. 127.—­THE SAME FOOT AS IN FIG. 126.  The dotted lines show the excess of horn removed preparatory to shoeing.]

Among other treatments to be noted we may mention one or two to be found chiefly in Continental works on this subject.

The method of Gross consists in thinning down with a rasp about 1-1/2 inches of the horn of the wall immediately below the coronet, the thinned portion extending from heel to heel.  The groove made is filled with basilicon ointment,[A] and the coronet stimulated with a cantharides ointment, In this way there is induced to grow from the coronet a new wall of nearly normal dimensions.

[Footnote A:  Basilicon ointment is made by heating together resin 8 parts, beeswax 8 parts, olive oil 8 parts, and lard 6 parts.  Allow to cool without stirring.]

By other operators (Bayer, Imminger, Meyer, and Gunther) this treatment has been modified by enlarging upon it and removing the whole of the adventitious horn.

[Illustration:  FIG. 128.—­THE SHOE WITH HEEL-CLIP.]

This is done by means of the drawing-knife and the rasp, the ugly-looking pumiced foot being carefully cut and trimmed until, so far as outward appearances are concerned, it is perfectly normal.  This done, the whole foot is treated with a suitable hoof ointment, and a shoe applied that affords protection to the sole without imposing pressure upon it.  The shoe indicated is either an ordinary shoe with an unusually broad and well-seated web, or the seated Rocker Bar of Broad.  With either it is well to additionally protect the sole by means of a leather or rubber pad and tar stopping, or by using the Huflederkitt described on p. 148.  In every case the nails must be kept well back in order to avoid the weakened and degenerated horn at the toe, and to take advantage of the greater growth of horn at the heels.