448 HORSE-SHOEING 



wliicli the horse stands. On a hind foot there is no excuse for fitting 

 a shoe short. It stands no risk of being pulled off by another foot, it 

 cannot injure any part of the limb when the horse lies down, and so the 

 hind shoe should always be longer than the foot, especially when calkins 



are used. 



Surface fitting is the adaptation of 

 the plane foot surface of the shoe to the 

 level bearing surface of the foot. The shoe 

 Fig. 643.— An -Eased" Heel should rest cveuly upon the hoof from toe 



to heel, the pressure being uniform through- 

 out. Should either the foot or the shoe not be level some j^arts lose bearing, 

 and others sustain an uneven and excessive bearing. It is not uncommon 

 to find a shoe fitted so that its centre is higher than either heel or toe. 

 Such a shoe rests unevenly on the quarters of the foot, and as the wall 

 is there weak, we often find the horn broken as the result of excessive 

 bearing. Flat feet present the sole more prominently at the toe than 



at other parts, and there- 

 \ >';\ \-v .'w. ^\ ''^'MX fore care is required, when 



~' ' - \a;\>\^^ fitting; shoes to them, that 



III liliillimiBIIIB the inner edge of the 



&^ 



Fig. 644.— Shoe with Level Bearing tOC of tllC sllOC sllOuld 



not bear upon this part. 

 Special care must always be taken to avoid any undue or uneven pres- 

 sure by the heels of a shoe upon the angle of sole between the wall 

 and the bars. When the horn of the wall is detached from the sole 

 or badly broken, it must be relieved of all bearing either by lowering it 

 with the rasp or by fitting the shoe so that there is no contact between 

 the two. A very injurious method of fitting .shoes followed upon an 



erroneous theory to the 

 fite\ ' n\> ' ' sx.sWfC'I^^^^PL effect that the heels were 



vi\;..\ \^^Xx^-:' -' ■• '^\v- V' ■f\\\^\ unable to stand their 



share of bearing as well 



Fig. 64... -.Siioe Imitating a Worn Gi-oiMiil-snrtV.ce aS Other partS of the 



wall. With a view to 

 save the heels of the foot, shoes were what is called "eased" or "sprung" 

 at their extremities (fig. 643). This system of fitting left a space between 

 shoe and foot at the heels into which the blade of a knife might be passed, 

 and the space extended forward from an inch to an inch and a half 



The fact is that the heels will stand, and they require, all the bearing 

 a level shoe can afford. The " ea.sed" heel is altogether an injurious thing. 

 It loses bearing surface, and concentrates pressure on the spot where 



