SHOEING. 197 



must be withdrawn one at a time. The too common 

 method is to draw out the nails on one side only and then 

 to tear the shoe from the foot by main force, frequently 

 carrying a bit of hoof with it. 



Rasp the bottom of the circular walls of the hoof until 

 a perfectly level flat surface is obtained. On no account let 

 the drawing-knife touch the bars or returns of the foot. All 

 that has to be done is to reduce the foot to the size it would 

 have been if not guarded from attrition by the rim of steel, 

 and that can best be effected by attrition — by the rasp. 

 The toe, if too long, must be reduced from below, not by 

 vertical chopping or shortening ; the line of outward hoof 

 or wall from the coronet to its junction with the shoe must 

 be perfectly straight. The shorter the horse's toe is the less 

 likely is he to trip or to bring his toe on the ground before 

 the heel. 



See that the shoe is hammered to exactly fit the foot, not, 

 as usually is the case, the foot pared and rasped to fit the 

 shoe. The surface of the shoe, that coming in contact with 

 the foot, must be perfectly level. 



The nail holes must be bevelled throughout the whole 

 thickness of the shoe, and made exactly to hold the nail 

 heads, so that they may retain their hold to the very last. 

 When the nail holes are cleared with the pritchel over too 

 large an opening, the shoe is liable to be bent; this, on 

 being remedied by using the hammer, very frequently 

 causes an imperceptible fracture in the shoe. They should 

 be cleared over as small an aperture as possible. 



Only chisel-pointed and bright (not rusty) nails should be 

 used. They should be driven so as to take a short and 

 wide hold of the crust, and should come out within half an 

 inch of the shoe. Being driven thus at an angle across the 

 fibres of the wall, they retain a better hold than those 



