596 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



too long (too high), or the c>pposite section of wall has been too short 

 (too low). " One-sided wear, uneven setting down of the feet, and an 

 unnatural course of the wall are often found together.*' How much 

 an old shoe can tell us, if we take time and pains to decipher its scars ! 



The horse should next be observed at a walk and at a trot or pace, 

 from in front, from behind, and from the side, and the "breaking 

 over." the carriage of the feet, and the manner of setting them to the 

 ground carefully noted and remembered. A horse does not always 

 move just as his standing position would seem to imply. Often there 

 is so great a difference in the form and slant of two fore hoofs or two 

 hind hoofs that we are in doubt as to their normal shape, when a few 

 steps at a trot will usually solve the problem instantly by showing us 

 the line of flight of the hoofs and referring them to the regular, base- 

 wide, or base-narrow form. 



No man is competent either to shoe a hoi'se or to direct the work 

 till he has made the precited observations. 



PREPARATION OF THE HOOF FOR THE SHOE. 



After raising the clinches of the nails with a rather dull clinch 

 cutter ("buffer-') and drawing the nails one at a time, the old shoe 

 is critically examined and laid aside. Remaining stubs of nails are 

 then drawn or punched out and the hoof freed of dirt and partially 

 detached horn. The farrier has now to " dress" the overgrown hoof 

 to receive the new shoe: in other words, he has to form a base of sup- 

 port so inclined to the direction of the pasterns that in motion this 

 surface shall be set flat upon the ground. He must not rob the hoof 

 nor leave too much horn : either mistake may lead to injury. If he 

 has made a careful preliminary examination he knows what part of 

 the wall requires removal and what part must be left, for he already 

 knows the direction of the foot axis and the wear of the old shoe 

 and has made up his mind just where and how much horn must be 

 removed to leave the hoof of proper length and the foot axis straight. 



A greatly overgroAvn hoof may be quickly shortened with sharp 

 nippers and the sole freed of semidetached flakes of horn. The con- 

 cave sole of a thick-walled, strong hoof may be pared out around the 

 point of the frog, but not so much as to remove all evidences of ex- 

 foliation. The wall should be leveled with the rasp till its full 

 thickness, the white line, and an eighth of an inch of the margin of 

 the sole are in one horizontal plane, called the " bearing surface of 

 the hoof." The bars, if long, may be shortened, but never pared on 

 the side. The branches of the sole in the angle between the bars and 

 the wall of the quarters should be left a little lower than the wall, so 

 as not to be pressed upon by the inner web of the shoe. " Corns," or 

 bruises of the pododerm, are usually a result of leaving a thick mass 

 of dry. unyielding horn at this point. The frog should not be 



