284 



THE HORSE. 



■miths to cut them perfectly away. They imagine that that gives a more 

 open appearance to the heels of the horse ; a seeming width wiiich may 

 impose upon the unwary. Horses shod for the purpose of sale have 

 usuaUy the bars removed with this view ; and the smiths in the neighbour- 

 hood of the metropolis and large towns, shoeing for dealers, too often habit- 

 ually pursue, without regard to their customers, the injurious practice of 

 removing the bars. The horny frog, deprived of its guard, will speedily 

 contract, and become elevated and thrushy; and the whole of the heel, 

 deprived of the power of resilience or re-aclion, which the curve between 

 the bar c and the crust d affords, will speedily fall in. Therefore, when 

 treating of shoeing, we shall lay it down as a golden rule, that the bars 

 should be left prominent, and we shall show why it is of essential import- 

 ance that the shoe should rest on the angle formed by the crust and the bar. 



THE FROG. 



In the space between the bars, and accurately filling it, is the frog. It 

 is a triangular portion of horn, projecting from the sole, almost on a level 

 with the crust, and covering and defending a soft and elastic substance, 

 called the sensible frog. It is wide at the heels, and there extending above 

 a portion of the crust ; narrowing rapidly when it begins to be confined 

 between the bars, and terminating at a point at somewhat more than half 

 the distance from the heel to the toe. It consists of two rounded or project- 

 ing surfaces, with a fissure or cleft between them, reaching half way down 

 the frog, and the two portions again uniting to form the point or toe of the 

 frog. The frog is firmly united to the sole, but it is perfectly distinct from 

 it. It is of a different nature, being softer, and far more elastic ; and it is 

 secreted from a different surface, for it is thrown out from the substance 

 which it covers. Without entering into many of the questions which have 

 been agitated, with far too much warmth among veterinarians, as to the 

 uses of the frog, it is sufficient to refer to our cut, and consider the form 

 and situation of this part. It very much resembles a wedge with the sharp 

 point forwards; and it is placed towards the back part of the foot. The 

 foot is seldom put flush and flat upon the ground, but in a direction down- 

 wards, yet somewhat forwards ; then the frog evidently gives safety to the 

 tread of the animal ; for it, in a manner, ploughs itself into the ground, and 

 prevents the horse from slipping. This is of considerable consequence, 

 when we remember some of the paces of the horse, in which his heels 

 evidently come first to the ground, and in which the danger from slipping 

 would be very great. We need only refer to the gallop of speed as illus- 

 trative of this. 



The frog being placed at, and filling the hinder part of the foot, 

 discharges a part of the duty sustained by the crust; for it supports the 

 weight of the animal. It assists, likewise, and that to a material degree, 

 in the expansion of the foot. It is formed internally of two prominences 

 on the sides (see a, p. 283)," and a cleft in the centre, presenting two con- 

 cavities with a sharp projection in the middle, and a gradually rounded one 

 on each side. It is also composed of a substance peculiarly flexible and 

 elastic. What can be so well adapted for the expansion of the foot, when 

 a portion of the weight of the body is thrown on it? How easily will these 

 irregular surfaces yield, and spread out, and how readily return again to 

 their natural state ? In this view, therefore, the horny frog is a powerful 

 agent in opening the foot ; and the dimunition of the substance of the frog, 

 «nd its elevation above the ground, are both the cause and the consequence 



