298 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



no trimming, except as before mentioned. Many persons 

 imagine that the frog must not come in contact with the 

 ground ; but this is a mistake. That Being who made the 

 horse, placed the frog as low in his foot as any part of the 

 hoof. It thus acts as an clastic wedge to give life and health 

 to the foot. And whenever it is in effect removed from its 

 natural position by thick, high heel shoes, it shrinks away, 

 becomes thrushy, loses its functions, and contraction of the 

 whole foot follows. I well know that those horses that put 

 their fore feet out forward in standing — caused by hard driv- 

 ing or excessive graining — will, for a few months, go better 

 in thick heel shoes. This elevating of the heel relaxes the 

 cords that pass down the back part of the leg, and over the 

 shuttle bone to the coffin bone. And if the health of the frog 

 could be preserved in this elevated position, all would be well. 

 But it cannot be, and when its elasticity is lost, other parts 

 of the foot and leg suffer with it. The evil may be remedied 

 by turning up a portion of the shoe like a calk. Where the 

 ground is soft, it will settle into it, and give moisture and action 

 to the frog and sole of the foot. 



Shoes for Contracted Hoofs. — In cases like the above, 

 the hoof presents a long, narrow appearance, and is hollow 

 on the bottom. This is called contraction. Upon such 

 hoofs should be placed a convex shoe, dipping outwards from 

 heel to toe at an angle — if a bad case — of forty-five degrees, 

 and less, as the case may require. This is the reverse of a 

 dishing of the shoe, which is practiced by most smiths for all 

 horses alike, while it is only the fiat footed horse that requires 

 it. Convex shoes may seem to some altogether useless, but 

 I have tried them too long and with too much success to 

 abandon them now. For several years I supposed that 

 they were original with me — as I had never seen any thing 

 of the kind — but I have since read about them in old, 

 standard works on horse shoeing, written in England before 

 I was born, and of course must give up all claims to their 

 invention. 



Shoes for Flat Feet. — Shoes must be dished for horses 

 with flat feet, for if the sole of the foot be subjected to constant 

 pressure, a bruise is the consequence. In such cases it often 

 occurs that the concave process is not carried far enough ; 



