Although an impermeable covering, like varnish, might do harm to the wall of the hoof by preventing transpiration, I see no objection to the application of hoof ointment or other greasy matter (neats' foot oil, or lanoline, for instance) to that surface, for the sake of appearance. Grease has a good influence on the growth of human hair, although it is unfashionable for toilette purposes; and hair and horn are merely varieties of the same substance (epithelium). Whatever may be the stuff which is put on the hoof, as much of it as practicable should be removed by rubbing, so that it may not soil the hands, if the foot is picked up, and that dirt may not adhere to it. The fact that a horse, after a day's hunting, sometimes returns to his stable with his feet full of clay picked up from the ground over which he had been galloping, might be used as an argument that it is natural for a horse to have his feet stopped with clay. The answer is, that unshod feet do not retain clay in this manner, and that clay is only one of many soils. A blacksmith would naturally like to have a horse's feet stopped with any appropriate filth the night before shoeing him, so that he could reduce the horn with the least possible trouble. Injuring a horse's feet to oblige a blacksmith is a form of politeness I need not discuss.

The only legitimate kind of stopping for the feet appears to be that which is intended to prevent balling of the shoes from snow, for which purpose grease is generally employed.

Mr. McGavin, M.R.C.V.S., writing on this subject in the Veterinary Record, says: "The best preventive I have found is gutta-percha. After the feet are cleansed with a picker and thoroughly dried, put the gutta-percha (as much as will fill the sole up level with the horse's shoe) into a pan of boiling water for two minutes, or until it is thoroughly softened. Lift it out with a spatula, turning it round for a minute or so till it is dry, place in the sole immediately, dipping your hand in cold water, and squeeze the guttapercha well into the sole before it cools. Hold the foot up for a few minutes; afterwards dip it in cold water, when it will harden in a short time and be fit for the road." However well such a stopping might perform its own particular work, its continued retention would, by checking evaporation from the sole and frog, soon heat the feet so much, that serious injury might be caused. Besides, the fact of gutta-percha being a bad conductor of heat would make its long retention in the feet all the more dangerous.

As the growth of the wall of the hoof can be hastened or strengthened only by stimulating the coronet, which secretes it, no hoof ointment, used as such, can effect either of these two ends.