76 



CAUSES OF INJURY. 



"Those who think it frugality to shoe with tliick and heavy shoes, and seldom, 

 are deceived, for they lose more by it than they gain ; for thereby they not only spoil 

 the back sinews, but lose more by it than if they had been light." 



It is conceded by all the best modern authorities that the 

 French author above referred to, whose work was published in 1750, 

 was the great father of a correct 

 system of reform in shoeing. It 

 was supposed in his day, as it is 

 in a great measure now, that a 



Fig. 592.— Flat, Convex Sole. 



Fig. 590, 591. — Sand-crack, or Fissure in Front cf Hoof. 



A deep substance of horn is found beneath the fissure at the lower part of the hoof, 

 where a corresponding cavity is formed by absorption in the coffin-bone. 



horse could not travel without having heavy, unwieldy shoes on, 

 and that the greatest skill 

 was exhibited in the amount 

 of cutting and rasping done 

 on this feet. 



He boldly proclaimed that 

 all this was injurious, and 

 tried to prove it by the most 

 convincing arguments. The 

 principles of treatment, 

 though given a hundred and thirty years ago, are just as important 

 now as they were then. He 

 says : — 



"In the state of nature, all the 

 inferior parts of the foot concur to 

 sustain the weight of the body ; 

 then we observe that the heels and 

 frog, the parts said to be most ex- 

 posed, are never damaged by wear, 

 that the wall or crust is alone worn 

 on going on hard ground, and that 

 it is only this part which must be 

 protected, leaving the other parts 



free and unfettered in their natural ^ig. 593.— Flat, Weak Sole, 



movements." 



