R64 THE HORSE, 
are thereby relieve? trom all pressure. In the other the frog does not 
some In consace with the shoe, which is solely supported by the crust and 
yars. It may thus be made either to defend the frog or the heels, which- 
ever may be in fault, and it is one of the most valuable aids to veterinary 
surgery. Should the frog be more prominent than the crust, the shoe 
may be made thin in proportion, at the part where it covers the former, 
and by this means it may be made exactly to fit the cwo when it is 
desired to divide the weight between them. There are many weak-heeled 
harness horses which would do their work far better if they were perma- 
nently shod in this way, and but for the danger of pulling these shoes off, 
and the little hold which they take of the ground, hacks might also some- 
times be advantageously shod with the bar shoe. It is unsightly, cer. 
tainly, and at present marks the existence of some disease, and for these 
reasons it is now seldom employed, except on compulsion. 
10. Tee paTren is merely a bar shoe made square at the heels and 
turned down at the back, so as to raise this part an inch from the ground. 
The object is to relieve the flexor tendons or suspensory ligament. It is 
also sometimes used in curb, with a view to relax the calcaneo-cuboid 
ligament, and tendon of the gastrocnemius internus muscle. 
11. A LEATHER SOLE is often introduced between the shoe and the foot, 
for the double purpose of lessening the vibration and protecting the sole 
and frog from injury by blows against an irregular surface, such as new- 
laid gravel, or granite, or rough paving. Sometimes, when the frog and 
sole are sound, but from the action being very high there is a tendency 
to jar the foot, the leather is cut to the exact shape of the shoe inside and 
out, leaving the sole and frog uncovered ; but in general a piece of leather 
is insinuated between the two, with a straight edge, crossing from heel to 
heel, and after the nails are driven and clenched, the outside edge is pared 
off level with the foot. Befors. however, this is done, the space occupied 
by the concavity of the sole, and the crevices in the cleft of the frog and 
between it and the bars, must be carefully filled with tow, saturated with 
a mixture composed of equal parts of tallow and tar. This not only keeps 
the horn moist, but it prevents any grit or fine gravel from working its 
way forwards through the crevices which are presented in the eleft of the 
frog and at its sides. It is an extremely useful mode of saving the feet 
of high-actioned horses which are much used on our hard roads, especially 
where the heels are weak. The leather must be well soaked in water 
before it is used, and it will then accommodate itself to every slight irre- 
gularity in the foot. It is often alleged that this plan allows the frog to 
receive more pressure than with the ordinary shoe ; but the leather is so 
yielding that this cannot really be the case, especially as it is of the same 
thickness throughout. 
WITH THIS CHOICE BEFORE HIM, the smith proceeds to make his selec 
tion of the form best suited to the foot of each horse. I have made no 
mention of steel tips to the shoe, because I believe them to be worse than 
useless. Ifthe horse wears his toe out quicker than the heels, all that is 
necessary is to turn up the former into a very strong clip, in fact rounding 
it in the French fashion, but somewhat more suddenly. The toe will 
then have the same appearance when first shod as it presents at the end 
of a fortnight’s work if made in the usual way, and there will be no occa- 
sion for a steel tip. In order to aid the choice, I shall here recapitulate 
the various plans which I think deserving of attention :— 
1. The concave-seated shoe, for ordinary road work (see page 556). 
' 2. The hunting shoe (page 558), for all hunters but those whose soles 
