234 THE ART OF THE FARRIER. 



condition best adapted for the artificial protection which, in his 

 new relations to man, is hereafter to become a necessity to the 

 animal. 



The foot that has already been shod requires the removal not 

 only of the shoe with its nails, but also of its ground surface, in 

 order that it may be brought to a proper level. In the majority of 

 cases, the growth of the wall downwards from the coronary 

 cushion is greatest at the toe, which is to be accounted for by the 

 firm attachment of the shoe at this point, not allowing the motion 

 between the iron and the horn, and the consequent wear which 

 takes place at the heels, where the attachment is much less. In 

 levelling the wall, we must be guided by the following rules. The 

 ground surface of the foot should be transverse to the direction of 

 the pasterns, a condition which in most cases can be brought about 

 by simply reducing the hoof at the toe to a level with the unpared 

 sole. Too great obliquity of the foot, which is produced by the 

 undue amount of horn at the toe, increases the general obliquity 

 of the pastern, and this condition increases the strain thrown upon 

 the flexor tendons or back sinews. This undue obliquity of the 

 foot constitutes one of the chief evils which follows the too fre- 

 quent custom among farmers and others of allowing the shoe to 

 remain on the foot for an indefinite length of time without removal. 

 This period should never exceed a month. 



If, through neglect, the heels have been allowed to grow down 

 beyond a natural limit, they must be lowered to an extent which 

 will restore the ground surface to the desired level. Too great a 

 height of heel renders the pasterns more upright, and conse- 

 quently too great weight is thrown upon the pastern bones. 



The operation so universally adopted by farriers of " opening 

 up" the heels, is one of the most barbarous, senseless, and useless 

 proceedings that could possibly be devised. It consists in making 

 two deep incisions into the angles of the hoof at the heels, just as 

 it turns inward to form the bars. Tlie process destroys that por- 

 tion of the foot which was expressly designed by nature as a 

 buttress or defence against its contraction, and nothing could 

 lead more surely to the destruction of the fulness and roundness 

 which are distinguishing marks of a well-formed, normal foot. 

 This important defence, then, should never, on any consideration, 

 be mutilated. 



The equally useless and unreasonable method of paring the sole, 

 and of destroying the bars, of whose existence many are pro- 



