130 LIVE STOCK MANAGEMENT. 



Trimming the Feet. You must be very careful about the 

 feet of your show animals. Overgrown hoofs are a great 

 eyesore and sooner or later are likely to throw the animals 

 off in their hocks and hind legs. They should be frequently 

 dressed, kept clean and in good shape. The following tools 

 have been used by the writer for this work: a heavy wooden 

 mallet, an inch and a half chisel, a blacksmith's paring knife, 

 a rasp and a file. By the careful use of the same the feet 

 of any animal may be kept in good condition. 



Clipping. The appearance of the head and neck of those 

 animals which are not supposed to have long curly hair, may 

 often be very much improved by the judicious use of the 

 clippers and shears. This should always be done a few 

 weeks before the show, so that in case an even job is not 

 made in removing the hair, growth enough will have taken 

 place to prevent it from being apparent to the public. The 

 tail should always be clipped, to indicate refinement. Coarse 

 hair on any of the other parts may be removed in the same 

 way. 



Fixing the Horns. The horns should always be polished 

 and otherwise fixed so as to present a neat and attractive 

 appearance. The same treatment is not applicable to all 

 horns, as some are much more delicate than others. In some 

 horns the quick is very close, thus care must be exercised 

 in the scraping to prevent bleeding or the weakening of the 

 shell. 



If the horn is too long, the first step will be to shorten 

 the same. This should be done with a fine-toothed saw, but 

 care must be taken not to cut too deep. Saw off the amount 

 you think necessary to make the horn the desired length. 

 After the cutting is done, then commence and file the horn 

 at the point to its natural shape, beginning about an inch 

 from the point and filing from the outside inwards, making 

 it look as natural as possible so as to avoid detection. If 

 the animal be a Shorthorn, commence filing the inside of the 

 horn, giving it a flat inside appearance, which is correct in a 

 Shorthorn, although not necessarily in all horned animals. 

 Next begin at the outside, smooth and round it, making it 

 blend as nearly as possible with the already dressed inside. 

 avoiding anything like a sharp edge along the top of the horn. 

 which would indicate at once that the horns had been fixed. 

 If you are real careful to reduce all unnatural sharp edges 



