THE PRACTICAL HORSESHOER. 15 



and carried for miles, or even left in the foot for days by 

 that class of men who say, ''Humph, I never trouble my- 

 self about a horse's foot. If a horse is sound he wants 

 nothing" done to his feet" — these and divers other causes 

 gradually — and to the owners and drivers man}^ times — 

 imperceptibly produce a condition of the feet which shortens 

 the g'ait, impairs the speed, and causes on-lookers to say : 



" 's horse is sore, actually goes lame at times"; and 



still the gentlest hint to the owner that his horse is not '' all 

 right" will be indignantly be met with the response, 

 " Sound as any horse in the world," until downright lame- 

 ness ensues. Now something- must be done, and the 

 veterinarian is consulted, who, with pills and powders, 

 balls, blisters, and poultices, special shoeing and hoof oint- 

 ment, soakers and bandages, and continuous care, palliates 

 the horse's disease and depletes the pocket of the owner, and 

 finally admits, when patience has been exhausted, what 

 he knew Avas the fact in the beginning, that '' all treatment 

 is only palliative — a cure is impossible." 



Well, what can be done? Much may be done. Insist 

 upon having as much of the superfluous growth of hoof cut 

 away at each shoeing as will relieve the foot from any undue 

 pressure caused b}^ excessive growth. Don't pare the frogs, 

 but, by sufficient moisture, keep them in such condition that 

 ''frog pressure" shall come upon an elastic cushion, not 

 upon a substance as unyielding as the wall itself. Pressure 

 on the frog is beneficial only when the frog is in proper con- 

 dition to receive it. Don't insist too strongly upon leaving" 

 the sole untouched b^^ the knife without first knowing what 

 sort of feet 3^ou are dealing with. Some- feet will shed out 

 the dead horn from the sole in scales of considerable thick- 

 ness once in a month or six weeks, and never need to have 

 the sole pared at all. Other feet which have the sole un- 

 touched by the knife will never shed out a particle of the 

 sole for an entire year, and by the accumulation of hoof 



