34 THE PRACTICAL HORSESHOER. 



SO necessary to do so any farther than up to the hair ; it 

 checks the g-rowth of the wall, makes it grow very thin and 

 also very slow. 



Too m ucli cannot be said on the failure of horse owners 

 to keep their horses' feet in a g-rowing condition. A foot 

 never grows but perishes when allowed to get dry and hard. 

 Keep the feet as soft as practicable, and you will keep them 

 g"rowin^ and overcome many difficulties which are not 

 thought of in the general line of horseshoeing. — By 

 W. B. 



Rules for Horseshoeing. 



There is great diversity of opinion existing among smiths 

 W' ith regard to the best method of appljnng shoes to horses' 

 feet. It is my belief that the best system is that which 

 interferes least with the natural functions, position, and ac- 

 tion of the feet. I favor a shoe which affords the most pro- 

 tection to the foot and yet allows the frog to come in contact 

 with the ground. 



No specific rule can be obtained in the general art of shoe- 

 ing, for the simple reason that the feet differ very much 

 under the conditions of health and disease ; hence a certain 

 form of shoe well adapted to meet the requirements of one 

 condition might prove positively injurious in another, as is 

 often the case. 



It is generall}^ understood that the hoof is sufficiently 

 elastic to guard against the jar and concussion which oc- 

 cur every time the horse's feet are planted on the ground. 

 This elasticit}^ as observed in a healthy and unfettered hoof, 

 occurs in downward and backward directions. It is scarcely 

 perceptible, yet wisely is it so ordained, for if there was 

 much expansibility or lateral motion to the hoof it would 

 prove ruinous to the foot, and the chances of securing a shoe 

 to it without positive injurj^ would be very small. Nature 

 has provided this elasticity by leaving the hoof open at the 



