C

CAECUM: See: Cecum.
CAF I: Certified Apprentice Farrier, Level One. Recognition awarded to student and novice horseshoers by the B.W.F.A. The CAF I examination involves shoeing one pair of hooves with keg shoes in two hours.
CAF II: CAF II: Certified Apprentice Farrier, Level Two. Recognition awarded to graduate students and beginning professional farriers by the B.W.F.A. The CAF II examination includes keg shoeing two hooves to quality standards in 90 minutes, a written test covering elementary anatomy and hoof structures, and a test of basic skills in modifying keg shoes.
CALF KNEE: A calf-kneed horse's knees are behind the vertical.
CALK: [from the Latin calx, the heel]: Any of several types of projection which may be forged on a horseshoe, welded or brazed onto a horseshoe, or inserted into a hole in the horseshoe. Calks are used to increase traction, alter movement, or adjust stance. a.k.a: Caulk; calkin.
CALKIN: See: Calk.
CAMPED BEHIND: A "camped behind" horse stands like a saw horse with the hooves behind the vertical.
CANCELLOUS: Loose bony tissue.
CANKER: Abnormal, vegetative growth of the frog. May also affect the sole. Caused by infection and the exposure of the hooves to harsh ammonia compounds. Effective treatment and prevention must include moving the horse to a clean, dry environment. a.k.a: Hoof cancer.
CANNON BONE: The third metacarpal in the front leg, or the third metatarsal in the hind. Is located just below the knee. It functions as a lever and plays a direct part in determining the speed of a horse.
CANTED KNEE: A deviation similar in appearance to bench knee, but differing in that each row of carpal bones is offset from the bones above it, whereas bench knees have a relatively normal carpus with the metacarpals being offset at the carpometacarpal joint.
CANTER: A gait between a trot and a run.
CAPEWELL: Horseshoe nail manufacturer since 1881. Based in the U.S. and once manufactured and distributed on three continents. Owned by Mustad since 1985.
CAPILLARIES: [from the Latin capillus, hair]: The tiny, often microscopic, vessels which nourish the tissues and transfer blood from the arteries to the veins.
CAPPED HOCK: A bump under the skin at the point of the hock. This blemish may be of any size, and is often caused by direct trauma to the hock.
CAPPED KNEE: See: Popped Knee.
CAPSULAR ROTATION: The hoof wall rotates away from the P III, while the P III remains in alignment with the pastern. This condition can be due not only to founder, but also to overweight, too low a hoof angle, or use of toe grabs.
CAPSULE: See: Hoof Capsule.
CARPUS: [Latin]: The equine knee, or human wrist. -carpal, pertaining to the carpus.
CARPUS VALGUS: carpus valgus: A conformation defect in which the fore limbs deviate medially above the knee, and laterally below the knee. This creates the appearance that the limbs are bent inward, under the horse. a.k.a: Knock-knees.
CARPUS VARUS: A conformation defect in which the fore limbs deviate laterally above the knee, and medially below the knee. This creates the appearance that the limbs are bent outward.. a.k.a: Bow-legged.
CARTILAGE: Flexible, somewhat elastic, skeletal structures.
CAT SCAN: Computerized Axial Tomography. Produces cross-sectional views of an internal body structure. a.k.a: CT scan.
CAT WALKING: See: Rope Walking.
COTABOLIZE: The breaking down of complex molecules into simple molecules through metabolic action. The act of catabolizing molecules is called catabolism.
CAUDAL: Towards the tail.
CAULK: See: Calk.
CECUM: [from the Latin caecus, blind]: A branch of the large intestine which is open only at one end, forming a sac-like cavity. a.k.a: Caecum, blind gut.
CERTIFIED: One who has received a certificate which states, on the authority or reputation of the certifying body, that he has met certain requirements or conditions. See also: CAF; CF; CJF; CMF; ICF.
CF: Certified Farrier. A recognition of knowledge and skill awarded by the AFA. The CF examination includes a one hour written test with 50 questions covering anatomy and general farriery, live shoeing one pair of hooves with keg shoes to exact requirements in one hour, and a general horseshoe modification test.
CHAMFERING: Tapering or sloping a surface on a shoe.
CHAMPION: Brand of farrier tools from 1895 until 1963. Champion developed the Channellock plier in 1933, quit making farrier tools in 1963 and became Channellock, Inc.
CHEAP JOHN: A colloquialism for a horseshoer who attempts to build up his business by charging low prices. Because a Cheap John will have to shoe too many horses just to make a living, he will not have time to further his professional education or to provide quality care to his clients' horses. See also: Cowboy Shoeing.
CHECK LIGAMENT: A ligament which connects a tendon to a bone. Check ligaments are often considered to be parts of tendons.
CHONDRO-: [Greek]: Having to do with cartilage.
CHONDROCYTE: A cartilage cell.
CHRONIC: [from the Greek Chronos, Time]: Persistent. The long-term phase of many diseases and conditions. See also: Acute.
CJF: Certified Journeyman Farrier. The highest recognition awarded by the AFA. The CJF exam includes a written test with 80 advanced questions to be answered in two hours, live shoeing of a horse with handmade clipped shoes in two hours, and forging a fullered bar shoe to fit a pattern in 35 minutes.
CJF I: Certified Journeyman Farrier, Level One. Recognition awarded to farriers with more than one year of practical experience by the B.W.F.A. The CJF I examination includes a one hour written test on general farriery, live shoeing two hooves with clipped keg shoes in 105 minutes, and advanced keg shoe modifications. See also: Grandfather Clause.
CJF II: Certified Journeyman Farrier, Level Two. Recognition awarded to farriers with more than three years of practical experience by the B.W.F.A. The CJF II examination includes a two hour written test on advanced farriery, live shoeing a horse with handmade clipped shoes in 3 1/2 hours, and advanced shoe forging. See also: Grandfather Clause.
CLEFT: A horizontal crack in the hoof wall. Clefts are usually caused by damage to the coronary band, or the rupture of an abscess at the coronary band. a.k.a: Crosscrack.
CLINCH: The part of a horseshoe nail visible on the outside of a shod horse's hoof. This part of the nail is folded down against the hoof to form a clamp, and normally has to be straightened or removed before the horseshoe can be pulled off without doing damage to the hoof. a.k.a: Clench.
CLINCH CUTTER: A tool used to knock a clench down when removing a shoe.
CLINCHER: A tool used for bending the nails over after they have come through the hoof.
CLIPS: Flat projections, usually triangular or round, extending upward from the outer edge of a horseshoe. Clips are fit flat against, or set into, the outer surface of the hoof wall. Clips may be drawn from the metal of the shoe or welded on. Clips are used to prevent the shoe from shifting on the hoof, to stabilize the hoof wall, or sometimes as a purely cosmetic touch.
CLOSE NAIL: A horseshoe nail that does not actually quick the hoof, but comes close enough to sensitive structures to create irritating pressure. It may take a few days for a close nail to cause the horse apparent discomfort. a.k.a: Hot nail.
CLUBFOOT: An extremely upright hoof with a very broken-forward pastern-hoof axis. May be caused by flexor deformity. In extreme cases, the digit may be folded back, with the animal bearing weight on its dorsal surface. In congenital club feet, the slope of the heels is usually more upright than that of the toe.
CMF: Certified Master Farrier. The highest level of certification awarded by the B.W.F.A. See: Grandfather Clause.
COARSE PUNCHED: A nail hole in a horseshoe which is located towards the inner edge of the shoe web. Toe nail holes are often coarse punched. See also: Fine punched.
COFFIN BONE: Is located in the hoof. It contains nerves and blood vessels which form the foot's sensitive structures and cushion the area between the bone and hoof.
COLD SHOEING: Shoeing done with ready-made shoes where the shoes are shaped to fit the foot cold on the anvil without benefit of the forge.
COLLATERAL CARTILAGES: See: Lateral cartilages.
COLT: An entire male horse under 4 years old.
COMMISSURE: A line or place where two things are joined. For example, the the junction of the white line and the inner sensitive structure if the hoof capsule. Another example would be where the frog meets and joins the bar structure.
COMMON DIGITAL EXTENSOR TENDON: aka: Main Extensor Tendon or CDET, is found in the front leg. It passes down over the front and slightly to the outside of the leg and attaches to the long pastern, short pastern and coffin bone. The widest point of attachment is at/on the extensor process of the coffin bone. It is joined on each side fo the pastern by branches of the suspensory ligament. It is responsible for extending the leg.
COMPENSATION: Compensation is adjustments a horse makes to try to keep an even gait despite a sore or lame leg.
CONFLUENCE: Flowing together, becoming one.
CONFORMATION: Physical inherited construction of a horse.
CONGENITAL: A characteristic present from birth.
CONTRA LIMB: Limb opposite the one that suffered the original lameness. Sometimes becomes lame from compensatory stress.
CONTRACTED HEELS: See: Contracted hoof.
CONTRACTED HOOF: Condition in which the posterior half of the hoof undergoes a significant reduction in width. This may result from other hoof problems, improper shoeing, or both. a.k.a: Contracted heels; hoofbound.
CONTRACTED TENDONS: See: Flexor deformity.
CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT: Trial or testing of a hypothesis under carefully managed conditions. All factors which might affect the outcome of the tests must be made as uniform as possible, except for the factor being tested. For an experiment to be considered valid evidence, it should involve a sufficiently large test group, and be repeatable with similar results.
CONTUSION: [from the Latin tundo, to beat]: A traumatic flesh injury which does not break the skin.
COON FOOT: Very low hoof angle with an even lower pastern angle. May result from sprained suspensory ligaments, weak pasterns, or chronic laminitis.
CORIUM: See: Dermis.
CORKS: A rural colloquialism which may refer to heel calks, blocked heels, or turned down heels on horseshoes.
CORN: A bruise of the hoof sole between the wall and the bar, usually caused by leaving shoes on too long.
CORONARY: Coronet or hair surface, part of the hoof farthest from the basal surface of the hoof at any given point.
CORONARY BAND: Is the part of the hoof where the skin and hide join with the hoof wall.
CORONARY CRACK: A sandcrack which starts at the top of the hoof and splits down.
CORN: corn: A bruise located in the seat of corn. Sometimes caused by the heels of the hoof growing over the horseshoe, or by improper shoeing.
CORRECTIVE: corrective: (1.) Trimming or shoeing a horse's hooves to counteract flaws in stance or gait. (2.) Wrongly used as a synonym for therapeutic.
COW HOCKS: Knock knee, hocks are closer together and the toes are pointed out.
"COWBOY" SHOEING: Shoeing done without fitting the shoe but simply cutting down the foot, shaping the shoe by opening or closing it, nailing the shoe on, and rasping the foot down to match the shoe. Excessive rasping of the lower border of wall producing a dubbed effect.
CRACKED HEELS: A condition wherein the tissue covering the bulbs of the heels cracks open, leaving the heels suseptible to infection. Primarily caused by chronically wet heels due to moist footing. Also known as "mud fever."
CRACKS: A split in the hoof wall.
CRANIAL: (1.) The front surface of the limb. Towards the head. (2.) Having to do with the cranium of the skull.
CREASE: A groove cut into the ground surface of a horseshoe that has already been turned. Shoes are usually creased on the branches to provide a seat for the nail heads. Creasing creates mild traction, and allows the nails to be easily removed one at the time with crease nail pullers.
CREST: An extra heavy neck on a horse.
CROSSCRACK: See: Cleft.
CROSS-FIRING: A gait flaw which results in the collision of diagonal feet. This usually occurs at lateral gaits.
CRYPTORCHID: Male horse with one or both testicles retained in the abdomen. Also called ridgling or original.
CURB: Swelling of the plantar surface of the hind leg just below the point of the hock. This is a ligament sprain, and may be caused by stress, poor conformation, or direct trauma.
CUSHING'S DISEASE: Cushing's Disease (a thyroid tumor) is a cause of laminitis and founder - particularly in older horses. If the cause of the laminitis or founder is Cushing's Disease, this must be diagnosed and treated before any treatment for the laminitis can be effective.
CUT OUT UNDER KNEE: A horse with "cut out under the knees" has a cannon bone that while vertical is slightly towards the back of the knee, and not directly below the upper leg.
-CYTE: Suffix meaning cell. cyto-: Prefix meaning cell, or having to do with cells. cytology: Cellular biology.

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