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BOARD OF AGIirCULTURE. 



the other side. If the cant be the other waj, and the outside quarter 

 raise the ^Yei2ht, the inside edge of the shoe is thrown round and 

 upward, and runs the risk of cutting with it the opposite leg. Even 

 when the horse from having a naturally good gait escapes both 

 these evils, still he is not free from trouble caused by this shape of 

 shoe. 



The fore foot of the horse, as nature mates it, has no such pro- 

 jection in front and downward as that which the smiths here gave 

 it, but rather the reverse. The sole surfixce at the toe is commonly 

 broken off and notched back at the middle, so that the pressure, 

 when the foot strikes the ground or the animal is raising his weight, 

 is distributed over the whole front of the foot. In accordance with 

 this, the coffin bone (see figure 3) which fills the internal cavity of 

 the hoof, has the same turned-up and notched-back form. 



Firr. 3. 



Figure 3. — Is a drawing of a fore foot coffin bone, in a position 

 to show one side entire and a part of the front. The front is to the 

 right hand, the notch indicating the centre of the toe. This blunted 

 form, which the hoof also soon assumes if left bare, and which we 

 do not see in the corresponding bone of the hind foot, has an evident 

 connection with the use of the member it belongs to ; and is to give 

 a broad firm opposition to the concussion caused by the foot striking 

 the ground ; and a solid and stable base over which the animal may 

 raise his weight. In the English form of shoes, with plain toes, and 

 tips let into the front of the hoof as in figures 8, 13, 14, and 17, 

 this natural position of tread is nearly followed ; but more so in that 

 of the French shoe (figure 18) with its rounded up front. Nowhere 

 in the world has so much scientific study and attention been given 



