The Foot Its Care and Shoeing. 123 



The special objects of shoeing are: 

 1. To protect the foot from excessive wear; 2, to enable 

 the feet to get sure footing on ice or slippery roads; 



3, to overcome as near as possible faulty conformation, 

 balancing the foot and limb as it might be termed; and, 



4, to cure or improve diseased conditions of the foot. 

 The feet of colts should rarely be shod, in fact refrain 

 from shoeing as long as possible. When horses are shod 

 the shoes should be removed every four to six weeks, 

 the excess of horn rasped away and the shoes refitted; it 

 is important to remember that the excess of horn, the 

 result of growth, be removed. In the past people cut off 

 too much, nowadays many have gone almost to the other 

 extreme. If horses are to go barefooted more horn should 

 be left, the sharp outer edge of the wall should be rounded 

 with the rasp to avoid splitting of the wall, loose flakes 

 of the sole or frog being cut off. The wear of a shoe is 

 due to friction between it and the ground, the wear may 

 be natural (normal) as in a sound young horse; or unnat- 

 ural (abnormal) in an unsound horse, e. g., wear of the 

 toe in navicular disease and spavin, wear of the heel in 

 laminitis (founder). On the upper surface of the shoe 

 marks of wear are seen due to the play of the quarters, 

 at this point can often be noted the slope, whether inten- 

 tional or not, of the heels of a shoe, such a slope, if in- 

 wards assisting to close the heels, or if outwards to open 

 them, such a bearing and direction should not be given, 

 the shoe surface should be perfectly level. 



Examination of a foot. When about to examine the 

 foot or remove a shoe always see that the animal can 

 stand comfortably on three legs, then by passing the 



