Requisites of Perfect Balance 105 



of feet, lies in the shaping or trimming of the hoof itself. I have 

 a profound respect for the men who devise shoes to overcome faults of 

 gait, but in all complicated patterns of shoes so made there is a fun- 

 damental idea which can, by simplification of shoe and proper trim- 

 ming of foot, be made just as effective. Great speed, or any reason- 

 able speed, incurs danger of injury to the limbs of the horse, and the 

 simpler the shoes, or the more compact in design, the less danger is 

 there from missteps, interference, shocks and twists. 



The final test of all shoeing rests in its serviceableness. Designs 

 that wear off quickly require too frequent a shoeing, which proves 

 injurious to the hoof. Therefore simplicity of design is one of the 

 important requisites of shoeing. Shoeing should be secondary in im- 

 portance to trimming the hoof according to the rules of pointing. It 

 should supplement the defects of the hoof and induce such changes 

 in gait as tend to restrain or aid extension and action. And again 

 I must remind the reader that the real effect, the actual outcome, of 

 all this combination of trimming the foot and protecting it, called 

 shoeing, can only be accurately obtained by an investigation of which 

 this book treats. Even with such definite knowledge it will be diffi- 

 cult enough to work out this problem of balance, but it seems a far 

 saner way than to mystify ourselves by trusting to luck or haphazard 

 changes, which are bound to land us in a labyrinth of confusion. 



The analysis of the gaits is after all no mystery at all and trainers 

 would do well to become familiar with its main features if not with 

 its details. There are always enough highly skilled farriers to do 

 one's bidding just right and they would succeed a little better still 

 in the way of balancing a horse if they had the trainer's definite 

 knowledge of the horse's gait and its deficiencies. Accuracy, scientific 

 accuracy, time, perseverance and thought will accomplish a great deal, 

 and in these there is no mystery, except it be in their happy com- 

 bination as often seen in the genius of the man behind the horse. 



Very much depends on the proper use of the hoof gauge (Fig. 

 44) to ascertain the angle of toe with the surface or plane of sole. 

 The plane A D B in Fig. 79 represents the surface of sole and the 

 plane L C H is at right angles with it and is supposed to contain the 



