88 Gait of the American Trotter and Pacer 



theory of pointing is such an explanation of facts. It was the first 

 rational effort to evolve a definite meaning of "balance," and to de- 

 prive balancing of the element of luck and ignorance. His theory of 

 pointing is not sufficiently understood, I believe, and because I was 

 eager to demonstrate what he simply stated from his long experience 

 and convincingly based on principles, I set out on the present investi- 

 gation of the two gaits. 



Too much importance has always been laid on the weight and 

 shape of shoes. It was never sufficiently recognized that balance was 

 not altogether in the shoe. Shoeing is always a necessary evil, and the 

 bare foot is the best shod foot, unless we take careful notice of the 

 hoof and its continual growth. The intelligent shoer of to-day must 

 be able to do as much with the rasp to effect balance as with the mak- 

 ing of a shoe. No better authority could be given to him than the 

 reasoning contained in this theory of pointing. It is not impracticable, 

 but is itself a line of principles applicable to all conditions and explain- 

 ing facts previously found. 



Before going into demonstrations of the effects of paring and 

 shoeing the hoof, I wish to call attention to the equally sound and sci- 

 entific theory of paring the sole and rim of that hoof. He says: "At 

 the point of union of the wall with the sole, there is a line of whitish 

 horn which might be called the line of safety. The rule then is that 

 every horse's foot should be cut down to this line of safety before 

 having a shoe applied to it." 



As to the proper size of hoof a horse should normally have, he is 

 again as positive in language, namely: 



"The white line that marks the junction of the sole and the wall 

 shows precisely the size each horse's foot ought to be, other things 

 being equal" (p. 56), and "all horn projecting beyond the line of union 

 of sole and wall should be removed." (P. 58.) 



This is the fundamental principle of a sound foot, and the keeping 

 of that horny box in a rational shape cannot help being the funda- 

 mental principle of balance. It is hard to convince the "long toe man" 

 of the strain of the leverage from heel to toe, and the idea is retained 

 that with each stride the long toe registers half an inch or an inch 



