A horse thus affected should be thrown up; should be placed in a large, loose box, and receive soft, nutritious food, such as boiled oats, boiled linseed, and scalded hay. A little green-meat occasionally should be allowed to regulate the bowels; greased swabs should be placed over the hoof and under the sole. A bar shoe should be worn upon the affected foot. This treatment should be continued till the horse has recovered from its debility. [Illustration: QUARTER SANDCRACK. Generally met with, in fast horses, upon the inner side of the fore foot.] With regard to the crack itself, take a fine knife and gradually scrape off the sharp edges till the division assumes the appearance of a groove. If the crack does not reach through to the flesh, no fear need be entertained concerning the lower edges of the crack, because the horn secreted by the laminæ is of a soft nature, and will most readily yield. Besides, paring the outer horn often prevents the inner layer being cracked by the motion of the foot; this being done, should the division not descend the entire length of the hoof, or reach from the ground to the coronet, with a firing-iron, heated to redness, draw a line at each extremity of the fissure. The line need not be made so deep as will occasion pain; it is only necessary that the mark should go through the hard outer crust of the foot to prevent extension of the division. Should the separation be the whole way down the hoof, it is as well to adopt either the plan followed by the late Mr. Read, or the mode pursued by Mr. Woodger, the clever practical veterinarian, well known in Paddington. Mr. Read used to make a semicircular line near the coronet with the hot iron: Mr. Woodger has for years been accustomed to draw lines from the coronet to the crack in the shape of a V, with the same instrument. Both methods have a like intention, namely, to cut off the coronet from the inferior portion of the hoof, thereby preventing the movements of the foot from operating upon the newly secreted horn. However, Mr. Woodger's plan being the easiest, and quite as effective as that of the late Mr. Read, is certainly the best. [Illustration: A PARTIAL QUARTER SANDCRACK DRESSED AND SHOD.] [Illustration: THE METHODS OF ERADICATING A SANDCRACK: EITHER THE SEMICIRCULAR OR THE ANGULAR LINES ARE EQUALLY EFFECTIVE.] Sandcrack, when it occurs at the toe, usually extends the entire length of the foot, and leaves a portion of bleeding flesh exposed. The laminæ, being opened to the stimulating effects of the air, are very apt to throw out a crop of luxuriant granulations. These, of course, are pinched between the two sides of the division. They bleed freely; often, from the pressure, they turn black, and then smell abominably. The putrid action, having once commenced, is apt to extend, and portions of the coffin-bone are likely to exfoliate.