THE PRACTICAL HORSESHOER. 95 



Hot and cold fitting's both have their advocates. I am 

 entirel^^ in favor of hot fitting- ; red hot, and not a black 

 hot. After the shoe is fitted, heat it red hot and press it to 

 the foot and remove it instantly ; if there are any inequal- 

 ities they appear, and should be removed with a rasp, and 

 the shoe again pressed to the foot as before, until a perfect- 

 ly level bearing is obtained. A hot shoe applied for two or 

 three seconds to the foot cannot injure it, as it only affects 

 the part presented for wear and tear, and that in a ver}^ 

 beneficial manner by hardening it, and rendering it less 

 liable to the action of moisture. A more accurate bear- 

 ing can be obtained by hot fitting than by any other 

 method. A small, narrow clip, judiciously placed, is desir- 

 able for roadsters. 



The manner in which I treat split hoof with the best suc- 

 cess is as follows : I make a shoe rather wider in the web 

 than usual. Then draw up a solid clip inside of the extreme 

 ends of the branches so as to fit on the inside of the bars ; 

 punch a nail hole in the end of each branch, then weaken 

 the shoe directly under the split. If the split be at the toe, 

 a clip may be placed on each side of the toe. Clean out the 

 split with some small instrument, and nail on with strong 

 nails, not driven too tight at the heels. Then spread the 

 shoe until the crack is nearly closed. It will not require 

 much spreading, as the shoe will bend directly under the 

 split. No cutting or burning should be done, but some stim- 

 ulating ointment that would keep the skin soft, applied to 

 the coronet would be beneficial. 



• Shoes of all horses cannot be the same, and it is hard to 

 recommend an}^ certain form of shoe ta be used generally. 

 A shoe should be as light as the nature of the horse's labor 

 will admit. A heavier shoe cannot possibly benefit the foot, 

 and it imposes a vast amount of unnecessary labor upon the 

 animal; far more, indeed, than we are apt to suppose, 



