244 THE HORSE 



do no harm, and will probably do good; but if, as is almost 

 certain to be the case, a nail has been misdirected, the 

 poultice will soothe the pain, and prevent any inflammation 

 which may have arisen from extending, and after a day or 

 two's rest the shoe may be put on again, when the animal 

 will most likely be found to be quite sound. If a horse, 

 however, is continued to be worked when lame from a prick 

 suppuration may follow, and possibly a considerable time 

 may elapse before the horse recovers from what has become 

 a serious injury from unwise treatment. 



It is well to consider what function a shoe has to perform 

 and what latitude can be allowed the smith when driving in 

 the nails. Briefly the outer horny covering may be looked 

 upon as an open box, the sides being termed the crust, or 

 wall, and the bottom the sole ; other items being the bars 

 and the frog, whilst inside the box are contained the bones 

 and sensitive portions of the foot. The sides, or wall, are 

 composed of a number of fibres, running longitudinally 

 downwards from the coronet, which secretes them, the outer 

 fibres being tough and hard, of about the thickness of half 

 an inch, whilst interiorly softer fibres of a quarter of an 

 inch interlace with the sensitive laminae of the foot. The 

 nails of the smith must be driven upwards, within that 

 half-inch of toughened fibres, a slight bend being given to 

 them to make them incline to the outside, there to be 

 clinched and made secure. When the horse is unshod the 

 rim of fibres forming the wall is continually rasped down by 

 contact with the ground, and is as constantly renewed from 

 above. For a considerable distance from the coronet, 

 perhaps two-thirds of the way down, the newly secreted 

 horn is chiefly composed of soft cellular material, with a 

 hard glazed waterproof surface, and into this region the 

 nails must not reach, but must make their exit in the lower 

 third of the wall where the fibres have become sufficiently 

 hard and tough. 



The object of a shoe is to interpose between the rim of 

 the wall and the ground, and thus protect it from undue 

 wear and tear, under natural conditions the longitudinal 

 fibres of the wall being gradually worn away, much as a 



