SHOEING. 



71 



Fig. 577. — Quarter-crack. 



crooked little instrument, was formerly kept for the purpose of exploring wounds and 

 extracting foreign bodies from the foot, and was to that extent in vogue on the Con- 

 tinent as well as in England. But theorizing, and a fancy for a change, led the 

 professor to order the general use of the little hooked knife instead of such a broad, 

 level tool as the buttress. He had unfortunately conceived such notions as that the 

 sole of the foot did not bear the weight of the animal, that it was necessary to pare 



it thin every time the horse was shod, and that 

 the broad, level buttress was not suited for 

 that ; hence the preference for the little scoop- 

 ing, crooked searcher. As these incidents 

 have had a disastrous effect on shoeing, which 

 we have scarcely in any degree begun to re- 

 lieve, I will quote from Mr. Coleman's work of 

 1798 :— 



" ' Those who supposed that the weight of 

 the animal was chiefly supported by the horny 

 sole, have attributed a function to that organ 

 which it does not possess ; but, although the 

 laminae are capable of sustaining the animal, 

 yet, as they are elastic, and at every step elon- 

 gate, the horny sole is necessarily pressed down 

 in the same degree, and by first descending and 

 then ascending, as the laminae dilate and 

 contract, the horny sole contributes very materially to prevent concussion. This 

 union of the crust with the coffin-bone sustains the weight of the animal ; the crust 

 supports the weight even when the horny sole and frog are removed ; if the sole and 

 frog in reality supported the weight, then the foot would slip through the crust when 

 the frog and sole were taken away. 



" ' The sole, frog, and bars were taken away from both the fore feet of a horse ; 

 the feet were then alternately lifted by 

 placing the hands on the loins of the 

 horse ; he kicked, all his weight was 

 then sustained by the laminae of the fore 

 feet, and yet this made not the smallest 

 degree of change in the situations of 

 the bones. 



" ' From this experiment, therefore, it 

 is, that the union of the sensitive laminae 

 with the horny laminae is sufficiently 

 strong to support the whole weight of 

 the animal on two feet. 



" ' The first thing to be attended to 

 is to take away the portion of the sole 

 with the drawing-knife ; and to avoid 

 pressure, the sole should be made con- 

 cave or hollow. If there be any one 



part of the practice of shoeing more important than the rest, it is this removal of 

 the sole between the bars and the crust. In common practice these parts are removed 

 by an instrument called the buttress. 



" ' The removal of a proper quantity of horny sole has been represented to be a 



Fig. 578.— French Shoe. 



