PKEPAKATION OF FEET FOR SHOEING 439 



surface. The rasp is to be used to finisli the process, and as it only obtains 

 a level by further removal of horn, sufficient must be left for it to work on. 

 But a level surface is not the only aim a farrier has to keep in mind. It 

 may be produced with such exactness that a level shoe rests on it perfectly, 

 and yet the hoof may be altogether out of proportion. Both sides of the 

 hoof must be left of the same height, and if the sides of a foot when it comes 

 to a farrier be of unequal height, it is evident that one side must be reduced 

 more than the other to obtain a proper form. Again, it is clear that if the 

 foot be le^'el on both sides, a man may rasp away more horn from one part 

 than another and so cause a disproportion. Carelessness in the use of a 

 rasp frequently leads to unevenness of the bearing surface. From the 

 position in which a foot is held on 



or between the knees of a farrier, /-^-— ^ 



some portions of the hoof are more / j ^~~~^-^ 



easily reached with the rasp than / ] ^^-^ 



others. The left foot suffers by / I ^\ 



over -reduction of the outside and / ; / 



inside toe, the rie;ht foot at the inside / i / 



heel and outside toe. A left-handed /''''' ------X\i^'V-'I''-'-'-'-^- 



man is liable to injure feet in just ^ ' \ '-"^ b 



the opposite positions. It is equally Kg. 630.— overgrown Foot 



possible to over-lower both heels or aJ, Oia base ot overgrown foot, ad. Level surface 



1 . 1 . TTi 1 il obtained by lowering the heel more than the toe. 



only the toe. Even when the SUr- ^.^ Level surface obtained by lowering the toe more 



face is quite even from heel to toe *'^'"' '"^'^ '^^'^'- "■ P'-oper a'lg'e for new surface. 

 on both sides of the hoof, the foot 



may remain disproportionate. The heels may be left too high or the toe 

 too long, and the proper adjustment of these two extremities of a hoof 

 is the most difficult and most frequently-neglected part of the preparation 

 of a foot. The great cause of difficulty is the fact that horses' feet are 

 not of definite form, and that much harm may be done by attempting 

 to carve a foot to some ideal standard. 



Some feet have naturally high heels, which can only be reduced to a 

 shapely pattern by weakening their structure. Some feet have naturally 

 low heels, and some have long toes, which must not be interfered with 

 (fig. 631). As a rule, when the overgrown wall is reduced to the level of 

 the sole, very little more horn need be removed. The effects of lowering 

 the heels are to lengthen the bearing surface backwards and to increase the 

 slope of the wall in front. Too much horn at the heels tends to straighten 

 the foot and to lift the frog from contact with the ground. It is always 

 desirable that the frog should touch the ground, but when it is wasted 

 no attempt to let it down by over - lowering the heels should be made. 



