HOESE-SHOEINQ. Ill 



point of tlie nail in the middle of the hole, keep the 

 nail upright, and drive it straight, it must come out 

 in the riglit place, low down in the crust, without 

 the possibility of w^ounding the sensitive parts of the 

 foot. The shank of the nail will pass through the 

 substance of the crust, and gain a good, firm hold of 

 it, leaving you the strongest part from which to form 

 a clench. The clenches should be short and broad, 

 and not thinned by rasping away any of their sub- 

 stance, but hammered at once into a notch made in 

 the hoof under each, and the rasp should never be 

 allowed to go over them, after they have been ham- 

 mered down. You will do good by rasping below 

 the clenches, because you will thereby remove the 

 broken horn that the former nails have destroyed; 

 but on no account ever use the rasp above the 

 clenches ; if you do, you will tear off the thin outer 

 covering of the hoof, which is placed there to prevent 

 the escape of the natural moisture and to keep the 

 horn tough, and if you rasp it away you will expose 

 the horn to the air, and it will soon become dry and 

 brittle, and make the hoof difficult to nail to. 



Plate 22 shows the ground surface of a near fore- 

 foot, with the shoe nailed on by five nails, and how 

 the shoe should look in its place on the foot. 



The Hind-Shoe. 



The hind shoe, like the fore-shoe, should be brought 

 in at the heels, and be made to follow the exact shape 



