37 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY 



the inner edge of the seat, making it thin except at 

 the heel, which is of the same thickness throughout. 

 The intention is that the crust should bear upon and 

 be supported by the seat of the shoe. The nail-holes 

 are situated in the inner part of the seat, but the 

 nailing is the same in principle as the common shoe. 



The advantage of this shoe over the ordinary one 

 is that of the crust resting on a flat surface instead of 

 an inclined plane ; and as it bears on the edge, it is 

 less liable to induce contraction. But with that 

 advantage, yet there are several objections to it. The 

 shoe being flat without the proper degree of curvature, 

 and the mode of fastening by pitching the nails 

 inward, is equally destructive to the crust, although 

 there is no strain upon the nails and clenches, as in 

 the common shoe ; and it has been found that its use 

 has not the effect of diminishing the number of corn 

 cases, which arises from the quarters being removed 

 to fit the flat-shoe, and the weight is then sustained 

 more by the heels than the quarters. Besides, it is a 

 difficult shoe to make. 



THE EXPANDING SHOE. 



This consists of a shoe of the common English 

 form, with a joint at the toe, which the inventor, Mr 

 Bracy Clark, intended to relieve the feet from the 

 restraint of the shoe and nails, by admitting the 

 natural expansion of the hoof, and thus avoiding all 

 the evils arising from shoes made on the common 

 principle. This, however, has not been realised. 



THE HUNTING SHOE. 



PLATE XI, FIG. 4. 

 The hunting shoe differs from that of a horse used 



