SHOEIXG. 271 



crust rests on it, is beveled off, or concaved, as it is termed. 

 This beveling off docs not extend all the way around; it is only 

 to be carried back to where the shoe passes over the bar, that 

 is, past the seat of corn. This concaving is not to be made by 

 •bending down the inner part of the web, but it is to be done so 

 that the beveling will appear as if it had been shaved out, 

 leaving the outside exactly level. 



The object of the concave is to })revent the iron shoe from 

 resting on the sole and bruising it, which it would do, in many 

 cases, if the side of the web next the foot were not beveled. 

 This beveling is especially important over the seat of corn. 



Some men speak very confidently of a broad web as a means 

 of protecting the sole, and the seat of corn especially, but I 

 can not see any great utility in it. Indeed, if a shoe could be 

 made of sufficient strength, and only substitute the part of the 

 tread worn off, it would be the best that could be invented. 



It is only after the tread is worn down that the 'shoe is 

 needed at all ; it is never needed to protect from corn or bruise 

 while there is sufficient horn to keep the sole from wear. 



The Width of ihe Web. — From what has just been stated, it 

 will be seen that the great object to be accomplished is not to 

 cover up the bottom of the foot, but to furnish a substitute 

 for that part which is worn off by the work required of the 

 horse. We must imitate nature. The shoe should be of suf- 

 ficient strength not to be broken or bent by coming in contact 

 with a stone, and should furnish a surface to the ground that 

 will stand a reasonable amount of wear. For these reasons it 

 must have considerable breadth; but it is plain that a very 

 broad, flat shoe will offer greater resistance to the constant 

 expanding of the foot than a narrower one. The latter may 

 yield a little, but the former none at all. 



The shoe should be near a quarter of an inch wider around 

 the toe than at the heels, for at the toe it is subject to the 

 greatest wear and liability to be broken. 



