C38D 



Of preparing the Foot to receive a Shoe. 



The present being a work which treats only 

 of the general principles of Shoeing, such precise 

 rules as may apply to every particular case, can- 

 not be laid down, but such methods as, by their 

 simplicity, lead to a practice the most safe and 

 most generally applicable, will be pointed out. 

 Whilst the foot remains unshod, the different 

 parts which form its bottom, wear away, and 

 are replaced by a new growth ; but a shoe, by 

 covering the crust, and a portion of the sole, pre- 

 vents this wear. Hence, therefore, the crust and 

 the sole grow faster than they wear; and as after a 

 certain growth they lose their toughness, and add 

 an unnecessary weight to the limb, it becomes 

 proper to remove the useless portions, and at the 

 same time to leave the others in such a state as 

 to afford a firm attachment for the shoe, and the 

 necessary defence to the parts within the hoof. 



However simple these points may appear at 

 first view, they have led to material difference in 

 practice. For with some, it has been customary 

 to thin the sole very much, to hollow, or rather 

 scoop out the greatest part of the bars, to pare 

 away and trim the frog into a given shape, which 



