SHOEING. 



23 



Fig. 442.— Half Hoof Removed. 



Any foot that is thin in its general structure, but more so in its vertical position, 

 or from top to bottom, and with the frog full at its pyramidal eminence or body, is 

 not a proper foot for frog-pressure. In such feet the plantar cushion, or what is 



known as the fibrous or fatty frog, 

 is very thin, is easily made weaker 

 by absorption through extreme pres- 

 sure or irritation on the horny frog, 

 and therefore offers very little pro- 

 tection to the great flexor tendon 

 where it passes under the navicular 

 lione. 



But I may be asked. How could 

 his in any way cause injury, if the 

 lavicular joint be perfect, as the 

 tendon requires only a slight cushion 

 underneath? My answer is, that 

 there is a double impingement of the 

 tendon, owing to the navicular bone 

 descending on the tendon every time 

 weight is thrown on the limb, the 

 proof of which is the pain caused 

 by this action on the internal struct- 

 ures of the hoof. I ask. Where is 

 the shoeing-smith who has not seen the agony of a horse while standing on one bare 

 foot on the level floor while the other foot is being shod, and the relief which fol- 

 lowed when the shod foot was placed on the floor ? I may be told that such feet 

 have been previously weakened by bad 

 shoeing and bad care, and that a horse 

 which never had been shod would not 

 suffer in this way. Those who make such 

 assertions are entirely ignorant of the 

 anatomy and physiology of the foot. 



My answer is, that when a horse first 

 comes to the world he has no frog develop- 

 ment, and for the first year of his life, 

 while walking on a level, can have no frog- 

 pressure. It is only animals that are raised 

 on low or marshy land that have a great 

 development of frog. Horses belonging 

 to mountainous countries have very little 

 frog, and generally narrow or apparently 

 contracted feet, which is no evidence of 

 disease. "Witness the ass and the mule for 

 example ; and I may add that although 

 wide heels are generally desirable, they 

 are no evidence in themselves of perfect 

 health. I am well aware that most thin 

 heels, and generally thin feet, have a large 



frog, but the depth of such a frog is more apparent than real, as it will be found on 

 close investigation that the flexor tendon and navicular structure are lower or nearer 

 the ground-surface in such a foot. Therefore we must discriminate in all cases, as 



Fig. 443. — Inferior View of the Above. 



