148 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Two causes mainly contribute to the production of corns ; nailing. 

 of the shoe too far back, by its preventing the spring of the foot, iS' 

 one ; the other is unequal pressure of the shoe upon the sole and 

 heels. When both are combined, corns are next to inevitable. 



A reason, or at least a pretext for heel nailing, I have already- 

 noticed. The extent to which it is carried, and the uniformity of its 

 occurrence show, that those who practice it never entertain a doubt 

 of its propriety, nor a suspicion that the hoof of the horse is an 

 elastic and organized structure, contracting and expanding alter- 

 nately at every step, and consequently suffering in proportion to the 

 extent to which it is fixed and fettered., 



The unequal pressure between the hoof and shoe which leads to 

 corns and other hurtful consequences, may arise either from the shoe 

 being improperly made, or the foot insufficiently pared out. It was 

 rare to meet with a shoe here four or five years ago, on which even 

 an attempt had been made to form a seat for the sole ; more rare 

 still that the attempt was successful. The seat, Avhen tried to be 

 made, was commonly only a concave form given to the entire surface 

 of the shoe next the hoof, instead of extending only as far outward 

 as the sole, and leaving a level rest for the edge of the crust. Such 

 shoes (see figure 7) should be called scooped rather than seated, and 

 are worse to make a horse go with, than even those flat made. 



Fig. 7. 



Figure 7 — Is a sample of the form of shoe here referred to, 

 and presents about as many faults as any one shoe can well have. 

 There is neither abutment, nor even rest for the toe part of the hoof 

 on the shoe, the front of the latter being depressed a full fourth of 

 an inch from the level of the two sides. The foot surface is dished 

 quite to the outside edge, with not the least space of level bearing 



