THE PRACTICAL HORSESHOER. 97 



frog, for it is the heart of the foot. The frog- sheds off once 

 in two or three months, when tlie foot is in a healthy con- 

 dition. The frog is intended for a cushion, and the larger 

 it is the better. When a horse trots he always strikes the 

 heels to the ground first, and if he has a large frog exposed 

 to strike first it will naturall^^ lessen the jar to the leg, and 

 operate to keep the heels weU spread. On the other hand, 

 if the frog is cut out, what is left becomes dry, so dry that 

 it cannot be cut with a knife, and the heels shrink to- 

 gether. 



After having trimmed the feet, as I have stated, to the 

 proper size, I select a shoe just large enough to cover tho 

 foot, and then shape it to fit. Applying it to the hoof, I 

 watch that the hoof is scorched only just enough to show 

 the unevenness of the foot, and then with a rasp or kni^i 

 smooth true. In this way I never fail to fit a shoe properly. 

 If the shoe is fitted correctly, the heels are always well 

 spread out. If the shoes are too long the heels will be 

 drawn together, and the foot, being thus pinched, becomes 

 contracted, and results in a lame horse. 



Next, the shoes should always be concaved on the fore 

 feet. Never put hind shoes on the fore feet. The shoe 

 should bear onlv on the outer rim of the hoof, and watch 

 that it bears equally all around, and not simpl^^ on the toe 

 and heel. If these directions are followed, the horse will 

 never be troubled with lameness in the feet, caused by im- 

 proper shoeing. If the shoe is not left on more than sixty 

 days, bruises or corns cannot form in the hoof. 



NoAv a w^ord about driving nails, and I have done. Nails 

 should never be driven high, and then in six or eight weeks 

 the foot will have grown sufficiently to enable the shoer to 

 cut out the old nail-holes, leaving sound hoofs. If the nails, 

 however, are driven high, at the next shoeing, the hoof will 

 not have grown enough to cut down to the old nail-holes, 



