SHOEING. 



^83 



prepared specimens of the external and internal structures 

 of this marvellous organ, including the hoof or horny box, 

 a section through the centre of the foot from toe to 

 heel, and a preparation of the internal foot with the hoof 

 removed, showing the horny folds of the membrane and 

 the coronary band. With these before him he will soon 

 grasp the subject, and be enabled to dictate intelligently 

 how his horse should be shod. 



When a horse freshly shod returns home from the shoeing- 

 smith's forge, the sole of the foot presents a deeply concave 



Fig. 2. 



dome-shaped form, the frog and bars have been neatly cut 

 away and trimmed, the outward wall or crust, from the clenches 

 to the sole, at its junction with the shoe, has been rasped 

 and smoothed, and, taken as a whole, the newly armoured 

 foot, as a specimen of neat workmanship, does apparent 

 credit to the workman's free and deft handhng of rasp, file, 

 and drawing knife. The basis of the art of good and correct 

 shoeing is non-interference with and the preservation, as 



