DETAILS OF SnOEINTI. 475 



cru.st, nor overlap it in llio sli<,'litcst degree. If a slioc be api-llcd smaller 

 than the crust— and such is the usual practice— the crust must he rasped 

 down to it. If, on the other hand, the shoo be larger than the crust, 

 treads and other injuries may be the result, and in deep ground the shoo 

 may be pulled off. 



Though the above directions may seem very simple and reasonable, 

 yet practically there is great difficulty in getting them carried out. The 

 accurate fitting of the shoe must be produced by the troublesome process 

 of moulding the shoe to the foot— not by the easy process of rasping the 

 foot down to the shoe. Any mark of the rasp on the crust is the°sure 

 sign that the farrier has not taken the trouble to fit the shoe to the foot. 



The shoe may be tried on warm enough to mark tho crust. It is diffi- 

 cult to fit the shoe accurately without such marking. There is no real 

 objection to the practice, as the horn is quite insensitive. But this per- 

 mission must not bo made an excuse for burning down the crust. 



OGf^. 0/ objections to rJose-fitting Shoes. 

 It is often objected to close-fitting shoos that they do not allow room 

 for tho expansion of the foot, and will therefore be liable to cause con- 

 traction. It may be sufficient to observe that all shoes are, for fear of 

 treads and interfering, fitted close on the inside, where contraction al- 

 most invariably occurs, and that they are left wide on the outside, where 

 contraction is seldom or never found. It is needless to say that a shoo 

 -left wide on the outside can have no effect in preventing contraction on 

 tlie inside. 



The question of the contraction and expansion of the foot was dis- 

 cussed above in Par. 057. 



9(j9. Removal of the oJd Shoes. 



The clenches should be cut carefully without injury to the crust, and 

 then each nail should be drawn separately. Much damage is often 'dono 

 to the crust by neglect of these simple precautions. It takes very little 

 time to remove an old shoo properly, and there is. really no excuse for 

 the hurried and violent manner in which this operation is too often per- 

 formed. 



970. How many Nails nre neededl 



The fewest which will retain the shoe securely in its place is, of course, 

 the theoretical answer. The practical answer will, however, depend on 

 various considerations— with the size of tho foot, the soundness and 

 toughness of the crust, the accuracy of the fitting of the shoe, and the 

 nature of the ground on which the horse is to be worked. 



For ordinary riding horses and for hunters, if tho crust be sound and 

 good, and if the fitting of the shoe be also good, five nails, namely, three 

 on the outside and two on the inside, are sufficient for the fore-shoe, pro- 

 vided that tho heads of the clenches are not rasped. 



If, however, the crust be rendered thin and brittle by rasping, or if the 



