SHOES 



441 



The frog should not be touched. The broken and ragged portions invite 

 removal, but are better left. They do no harm, and their removal nearly 

 always leads to further loss of horn which is wanted. 



The bai's should not be cut away, but when they are very prominent 

 may be so reduced that they take no direct bearing on a shoe except at the 

 extreme point where they meet the wall. This 

 extreme point of the bearing surfece of a foot 

 is very often injured. What is called "opening 

 the heels " is a favourite operation with some 

 men. It consists in cuttina; away a wedoe- 

 shaped piece of horn from each side of the 

 frog and from the point of the wall. It is 

 alt02:ether evil in its effects, for whilst crivino; 

 a delusive appearance of width to the heels, 

 it robs the foot of some bearing surface and 

 favours contraction. 



To repeat shortly the rules for preparing 

 a foot: — With a rasp form a level bearing 

 surface for the shoe from heel to toe; keep both sides of the hoof of the 

 same height; see that the length of the toe and the height of the heels 

 are proportionate; let the frog and bars alone; remove from the sole 

 only such portions as are loose or may receive undue pressure from a 

 level shoe; finally run the rasp lightly round the circumference of the 

 hoof, so that no sharp edge be left which is useless to support weight 



Fig. 632. — A Pared-oiit Sole 



and might be broken. 



SHOES 



Probably the earliest shoes fixed by nails to a horse's foot were thin 

 iron plates, similar to those now used by Arabs and Turks. The nails 

 were flatdieaded, and so soon as the head wore off, the shoe would be 

 loose. On grass land or soft roads this arrangement would afford a fair 

 amount of protection, and the shoe would last a long time by merely 

 refixing it with fresh nails. One of the first improvements would be 

 to increase the thickness of the shoe, and to form the head of the nail 

 so that it might be countersunk into the iron of the .shoe and thus afibrd 

 longer wear. 



The great essential in all shoes is that they shall protect the hoof from 

 wear and do no harm to the horse. They should be of sufficient substance 

 to wear three or four weeks, and they should afibrd a good secure foothold 

 on the surfaces over which a horse travels. 



Material. — The best material for horse - shoes is undoubtedly good 



