DETAILS OP SHOEING. 475 



crust, nor overlap it in the slightest degree. If n shoe be applied smaller 

 than the crust and such is the usual practice- the crust must be rasped 

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

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

 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 the 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 be made an excuse for burning down the crust. 



968. Of objections to close-fitting Shoes. 



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

 for the 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 shoe 

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

 the inside. 



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

 cussed above in Par. 957. 



969. Removal of the old Shoes. 



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

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

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

 time to remove an old shoe 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 are needed? 



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 the 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 the 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 the heads of the clenches are not rasped. 



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



