SHOEING. 



63 



Fig. 557.— Shoe for Cure of Con- 

 traction. Devised by the Writer. 



very brittle and weak, it is advisable to 

 use great care in fitting the shoe, with 

 thin clips on each side. At any rate, the 

 shoe must be fastened on so firmly that it 

 will not get loose. In some cases it may 

 be necessary to bring the bar down so 

 as to enable a more accurate line of ad- 

 justment to the shoe and frog. 



When in Massachusetts, in 18Y6, a 

 leading horseman called my attention to 

 a fast-trotting stallion that had weak 

 feet, and which caused him a great deal 

 of trouble. He wished to know how to 

 shoe them so as to improve their con- 

 dition. I found the feet in good shape, 

 but the sole and wall were very thin and 

 weak, the effect, undoubtedly, of the 

 horse being slightly foundered or over- 

 heated. I advised putting on a shoe 

 that would support the sole and frog, the 

 space between the shoe and frog to be 

 packed with oakum. He objected that 

 this would not do, as the horse would 

 not bear any pressure at all upon the 



sole. Some time afterward my 

 attention was called to a very 

 high indorsement from this gen- 

 tleman of a certain form of patent 

 shoe that had been used on this 

 horse. It stated that it enabled 

 the horse to travel as well as ever, 

 and that its utility was all that 

 could be desired. I was interested 

 to know just what kind of a shoe 

 had been used, and when again in 

 that vicinity, I found one at con- 

 siderable trouble, of which I give 

 an accurate drawing. (See Fig. 

 698.) While it may be evident 

 that in many such cases the shoe 

 could be made to support the en- 

 tire sole, if hammered out of iron. 



Fig. 558.— The Shoe Adjusted. 



