114 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



[Chap. I. 



No horse that is badly shod can travel easily, safely, or well ; and many 

 who use horses that cut their legs or trip, suppose that the fault is in the 

 horse, vrhilc in fact no one is in fault but the shoer. Tiierc are hardly two 

 horses that require precisely the same sliaped slioe, or that it be put on in 

 precisely the same way ; liencc to shoe every horse so as not to pinch, and 

 consequently injure tlie feet, and at the same time so that ho can perform 

 his work easily and well, requires considerable experience and more than 

 common skill and intelligence on the part of iiorse-shoers. 



One of tiie objects in applying the shoe is to preserve the natural con- 

 cavity of the sole of the foot. A horse in his natural state, and, indeed, uj) 

 to the period of his iirst introduction within the jirecincts of the " smithy," 

 lias generally a concave sole ; and wisely is it so ordained. Were it other- 

 wise, the animal would be unable to secure foothold ; as it is, the inferior edge 

 of the hoof — that is, the ground surface — projecting beyond the sole, may be 

 compared to the point of a cat's claw or the nails of a man ; they grasp, as it 

 were, bodies with which they come in contact, and thus secure a point of 

 resistance which aids in advancing limb or body over a smooth surface. 

 Now, in order to preserve the natural mechanical functions of the horn and 

 sole, the ground surface of the shoe must correspond to the ground surface 

 of the foot ; that is to say, the ground surface of the shoe must be beveled 

 cup fashion ; its outer edge being prominent, takes the place of the hoof; its 

 inner surface being concave, corresponds to the natural concavity of the foot. 

 It is a custom among some blacksmiths to reverse the above procedure, and 

 ]ilace the eonea*'e surface next the foot, and often the ground surface apj>cars 

 tt> be more convex tluiu concave. An iron shoe tacked on to a horse's foot 

 is one of the unavoidable evils of domestication, yet, when ju-operly ajjplied, 

 is not so great an evil as some persons might suppose. 



K. Jennings, veterinary surgeon, Philadeljjhia, gives his views as follows 

 upon this subject : 



l(i3. Coijtractioa of the Feet of Horses— The Cause and Remedy. — " The 

 tendency of a horse's feet, in a healthy condition, is to expand whenever 

 the weight of the body is thrown upon them. Being a very comjdicated 

 piece of mechanism, they arc very easily disarranged, and, once out of order, 

 are difficult of repair ; hence the necessity of preserving them in a sound 

 condition. 



" Contraction is caused, 1st, by cutting away the bars of the feet, which 

 are tlic main stays for the suj^port of the quarters ; 2d, by (opening tlio 

 heels, as the smith calls it) cutting away a portion of the frog, in conse- 

 quence of which the moisture of the frog becomes absorbed, losing its elas- 

 ticity and destroying its function, thus exposing the feet to injury by 

 concussion ; ikl, by standing upon plank floors ; 4th, by improper shoeing. 



" An ordinary observer will, upon an examination of the common shoe, 

 notice that it inclines from without inward at the heels, thus forming a con- 

 cavity for the feet to rest in ; the consequence is a lateral resistance to the 

 expansion of the hoofs when the weight of the animal is thrown upon them- 



