440 



HORSE-SHOEING 



AVlien a hoof is excessively sloped iu front and the toe long, it would 

 be injurious to shorten the toe by rasping the under surface of the foot. 

 Such a hoof is properly treated by directly shortening the toe with a rasp 

 applied to its border. 



When a hoof presents broken horn on the lower border of the wall, 

 it is necessary not to allow a shoe to rest on it. Broken horn cannot 

 support weight, and when it yields may cause injury to the sensitive parts, 

 and always causes shoes to liecome loose. Broken horn should be removed 

 unless it can be left in a position offering no bearing for a shoe. When 

 a foot is insufficiently covered with horn, either as the result of excessive 

 wear from work without shoes or as the effect of previous removal by 

 a farrier, great care is necessary to produce the best bearing surface. As 



ABC 



Fig. 631. — Well-proportioned and Ill-proportioned Feet 

 A, Foot too long and heel too low. B, Well-sh.aped foot, c, Heel too high. 



a rule the quarters of a foot are most broken, and the heels may be trusted 

 to take most bearing. 



The sole should never be pared out with the object of making it concave 

 and smooth (fig. 632). All that is necessary is to remove the loose flakes of 

 horn which are naturally being exfoliated. No part of the sole will stand 

 uneven pressure by a shoe, and therefore it must be lowered fully to the 

 level of the wall. The border of the sole, just within the wall, may properly 

 be used as bearing surface, but only in conjunction with the wall. Where 

 the latter is broken away, no attempt should be made to use the sole as 

 a support for a shoe. On flat feet care must be taken, especially at the 

 toe, that the sole is not left unduly prominent. At the heels in all feet 

 the angle of sole between the bar and wall should be left less prominent 

 than the wall, or uneven pressure will take place and cause a corn. The 

 old method of scooping out the sole of the foot till it presented a saucer 

 shape not only left the horny covering too thin to protect the sensitive parts 

 within, but it destroyed the bearing surface for a shoe by leaving the cir- 

 cumference of the hoof a mere narrow ridge. The bearing surface should be 

 as wide as possible, and include not only the wall but the border of the sole. 



