The Angle and LengtJi of Foot 257 



or greater angle behind, together with the swelled heels of shoe, were 

 intended to check the forward extension of the hind and to increase 

 their elevation of action; but the heels of shoes in "B" being much 

 shorter than those in "A", the forward extension of hind was not 

 checked as much as expected, because such shorter heels gave the foot a 

 chance to reach farther before striking the ground. Hence, there ap- 

 pears again a reverse extension behind which was found to be the 

 filly's habitual and faulty extension under Fig. 150-155. We also find, 

 in consequence of these two results, that the average distance between 

 the extremities is about the same in both "A" and "B" (3.11-3.12), 

 while we would expect a greater separation with the longer stride of 

 "B" (15.02) than with the shorter stride of "A" (13.5). The principal 

 cause of this approach of the extremities was the checked extension of 

 the fore, and this also tended toward an increase of hind extension. 

 This case, like many others, proved to me the necessity of finding the 

 faults of the locomotion of a horse in order to get nearer a proper 

 balance. The main purpose of this shoeing was to bring about a more 

 evenly distributed action between the fore and hind legs, and the result 

 in gait, though deficient in the respective extensions, showed the action 

 to be so. The case was discussed under Figs. 150-155 in the previous 

 chapter, and we saw in the last trial there that the heel calks, squared 

 toes and heavier shoes on the hind feet caused the latter to attain a 

 greater elevation and an action more in unison with that of the fore. 

 The reader is now referred to Fig. 132 in a previous chapter where 

 calks appeared on the web of the front shoes near the heels and also 

 at the heels of the hind shoes. The stride was 14.01 feet and the aver- 

 age' distance between the extremities was 3.32 feet. The subsequent 

 shoeing of that subject, just three weeks later, is seen in Fig. 191. 

 Here we have the extension of the fore released from the check of the 

 heel calks, and so likewise the hind, which latter have beveled heels in- 

 stead of calks. By such a radical change the habit of excessive hind for- 

 ward extension was readily assumed again by the subject, as the dia- 

 gram will exemplify. It proves, again, that a gait should be thoroughly 

 looked into before we can have any idea how a proper balance can be 

 accomplished, and also that such an investigation will always enable us 



