THE PRACTICAL HORSESHOER. 119 



foot sets on to the wing- of the paddle bone, and we get 

 corns here, and the result is. in either case, a sore foot, like 

 the result of a tight, stiff boot full of wi-irikles, pegs and 

 nails, and the feet are set out in front to rest and ease 

 the pressure of weight, the shoulders set forward, and the 

 breast looks as if it had been driven in, and is improperly 

 called chest founder. 



Now, to pull the heel open is to pull the bars away from 

 the frog ; if it is spread enough to do any good, it hurts, 

 whether done with nailing tongs, screws or a stump puller; 

 and what fills this cavity made by pulling the heel open, 

 except the frog, and of course you must wait for the 

 frog to grow to accomplish it, and the horse must endure 

 this torture to accommodate fault3' practices. Now just 

 let the horse have a ground bearing on the frog, and 

 keep the frog and hoof soft and cool with water, so that 

 it won't hurt the horse to stand on the frog, so that it 

 ma}' have its natural growth, and 3'ou will notice that 

 the frog will enlarge and resume its healthy and thriving 

 condition, and crowd or pull the heel open to better advan- 

 tage tlian any artificial theory for making horses' feet.— ^?/ 

 S. Stone. 



Against Spreading for Contraction. 



Man}' writers advise the spi-eading of the foot at the time 

 of shoeing. 



This is a very old custom, but I have discarded it for 

 nine years past, except in extreme cases. A foot can be 

 spread ver}^ quickly b}^ putting on a shoe and then opening- 

 it at the heels with the tongs, but this process generally 

 gives pain to the horse, and this pain is constant night and 

 day, for the animal cannot take off his shoes at night as a 

 man can, when a pair of boots hurt his feet. 



