72 THE HORSE OWNER's 



neath. And as to the rays, leave them alone also, and 

 they will fall off of themselves. A weak, flat foot, will 

 bear very little paring or rasping. The crust of such a 

 foot is sure to be thin at the toe and low at the heels, with 

 a thin and weak sole. Therefore, the less you do to it 

 the better, beyond making the crust level where it is to 

 bear upon the shoe. This must be done to all feet, and 

 as the inner quarter, where there should be no nails, does 

 not wear away as fast as the outer quarter where the nails 

 are driven, you should alwaj^s place a rasp upon its edge 

 across the foot, to be quite sure that the two sides are lev- 

 el. I have known shoes lost from the inside quarter be- 

 ing higher than the outside, which causes the foot to bear 

 unevenly on the shoe. Before you pare out a foot, you 

 should always think of the state of the roads ; and if they 

 are dry and covered with loose stones, or have been lately 

 repaired, you should take very little off the sole of any 

 foot, because if you thin it the stones will bruise it ; but 

 when the season is wet and the stones worn in, you may 

 pare the sole of a strong foot a little, till it will yield in a 

 very slight degree to the heaviest pressure you can make 

 upon it with your thumb ; but you must never pare it 

 thin enough to yield to less pressure than the very heavi- 

 est you can bring to bear upon it. 



THE SHOE. 



In turning your store shoes in the rough, you should 

 leave them longer at the heels than smiths generally do. 

 We shall see the reason for it when we come to "fitting 

 the shoe." And you should make the web as wide at the 

 heels as it is at the toe, and of the same thickness through- 

 out, from the toe back to the heels. 



The " fuller " should be carried quite round the shoe to 



