48 MANUAL FOR ARMY HORSESHOERS. 



the hock. The leg is grasped under the fetlock and is slightly 

 raised forward. The shoer now swings his inside leg under the horse's 

 leg (PI. XIII, fig. 2), presses it with his knee and extends it to the 

 rear to the position shown in Plate XIII, figure 3. Care must be 

 exercised that the foot is not held too high nor carried too_ far to the 

 rear or outward, for the discomforts of these strained positions will 

 induce the horse to pull his leg away. 



PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS. 



37. Three careful examinations should be made before old shoes 

 are removed from the horse : 



1. Of the action of the feet when the horse is in motion. 



2. Of the shape and position of the feet at rest. 



3. Of the evidence of wear on the old shoe. 



For the first examination, the horse having free use of his head, 

 should be led at a walk and at a slow trot upon level ground. UneA^en 

 ground will produce modifications of the natural gait, and a tight 

 rein or a short hold on the halter shank will also alter the free, natural 

 motion. The shoer assumes a squatting position and observes the 

 feet as the horse is led past him, away from hini, and toward him. 

 The manner in which a foot leaves the ground, its path in the air, 

 and the manner in which it is planted should_ be closely watched 

 in order to detect any of the defects of gait which can be remedied 

 by intelligent shoeing. (See Chapter VI.) 



38. For the second examination, the horse should stand at ease 

 on the floor ; the shape of each foot and leg should be observed from 

 the front, from each side, and from the rear, care being exercisedthat 

 the leg, at the time, is bearing its proper share of the aniniars weight. 



The shoer first studies the natiual pastern conformation. Is_ the 

 pastern slanting inward (toe in), is it vertical (straight), or is it 

 sloping outward (toe out)? (PI. XIV, figs. 1, 2, and 3.) 



lla\ang decided this point, he then studies the position of the 

 *' pastern axis"' and the "foot axis." 



As seen from the front we may consider that the ''pastern axis'' 

 is the imaginary line exactly splitting the long pastern in two, and 

 that the "foot axis" is the line exactly splitting the foot in two; 

 that is, the line from the center of the toe to the center of the coronet. 

 (The foot axis may be drawn on the hoof wall in chalk.) 



