SHOEING. 555 
demands sume knowledge of the anatomy of the foot and also of its 
diseases. He must remember that he has only about half an inch of horn 
at the thickest part between his knife and the sensitive internal parts ; 
and though he can generally make a foot dook well by the use of his tools, 
he often only does this at the expense of the destruction of a part which 
alone keeps the foot sound. Much will depend upon the natural or 
acquired formation of the foot he has to shoe. If it is very strongly 
covered with horn, great liberties may be taken with it, as compared with 
one where the sole is flat and thin, and the crust very shelly and weak. 
Generally he will only have to take an equal proportion off from the 
whole concave surface of the sole, that is, supposing the foot was properly 
prepared the last time it was shod ; but sometimes it will have been 
allowed to grow greatly out of shape, ‘and then much experience and skill 
are required to know how far to go with the knife. A perfect model 
must not always be carried in the eye, with a view to render the one 
before the smith exactly like it, but he must rather consider how he can 
make the best of the materials he has to work upon, which will generally 
be by preserving horn rather than by removing it. If the foot is strong, 
the toe may be slightly shortened, the heels of the crust and the bars may 
be lowered a little, and then the sole may be pared out so as to present a 
concavity downwards, avoiding too free a use of the knife. The frog will 
only want to be cleared of any ragged portions depending from it, aud 
the attachment of the bars to the crust must studiously be preserved. It is 
usual to clear out the sole in the angular interval between the bar and the 
crust, so as to avoid all risk of the shoe pressing upon the foot and causing 
acorn; but if care is taken to prevent the shoe from being twisted side- 
ways, this can never happen, and the sole may be left here on a level with 
the bar, unless it has previously been the seat of a corn. 
SUCH ARE THE GENERAL DIRECTIONS for preparing the healthy foot for 
the ordinary English shoe; but supposing that there is any disease or 
tendency to it, or that some unusual form of shoe is decided on, there 
will be a necessity for certain modifications in the plan adopted. It will, 
therefore, be desirable in this place to examine into the various kinds of 
fore shoes at the option of the smith, which may be comprised under— 
lst. The common English shoe ; 2d. The French shoe ; 3d. Mr. Goodwin’s 
improved shoe ; 4th. Bracy Clark’s hinged shoe; 5th. Turner’s unilateral 
shoe ; 6th. The half-moon shoe ; 7th. The tip ; 8th. The plate or racing 
shoe ; 9th. The bar shoe; 10th. The patten. The hind shoe will be 
subsequently examined. 
1. THE common EnGLIsH sHox for general purposes is represented in 
the annexed engraving, which shows both its surfaces. It is often made 
wider at the heels than the foot it is intended for, but this is a great 
mistake, and leads to the very mischief which it is intended to avoid. 
On examining the foot represented at page 554 it will be seen that at the 
back part of the crust on each side there is a considerable narrowing, or 
approach of the one heel to the other. This should be exactly copied, so 
that when the shoe is fitted neither heel will project a hair’s breadth 
beyond the other. The web will vary in breadth according to the nature 
of the sole which it has to protect, being made broader for a thin, weak 
sole, than for a strong one. On the internal or foot surface, the inner 
half or rather more is forged in a concave shape, so as to make the inner 
edge much thinner than the outer. This is called the concave seat, and 
is intended to keep all pressure off the sole, and to prevent the ordinary 
sized pieces of grit and gravel which insinuate themselves between the 
