THE PRACTICAL HORSESHOER. 193 



crack at the edg-e of the hair until the horse feels it and gets 

 uneasy ; then the job is done. The shoe must be kept 

 tight, and as the foot grows down other nails must be put 

 in, if it is necessary. I have never failed to cure when the 

 horse was brought to mj^ shop often enough for the foot to 

 grow down. It makes no difference whether the crack is in 

 the center or the front or in the quarters near the heel. 

 The cure is certain in any case. But the nails should not 

 be made too large. Fig. lOG shows how the nails are 

 placed. — By C. H. 



Shoeing Split Hoofs. 



I have had a good deal of experience with cracked hoofs, 

 and have tried a good many methods. M}^ favorite one is 

 a clamp shoe in which the clamps are welded to either side 

 of a ring shoe in order to come over the front of the foot, 

 with ease, so that a bolt can be used. 



I have tried the plan of screwing on over the crack but it 

 failed. The best and onl}^ safe plan that I have found is to 

 drive a good light horse nail through the crack and draw 

 it up occasionall3^ I have never failed by this method. 

 Sometimes I have put as many as three nails in one hoof. 

 Quarter cracks are much harder to cure than a front one, 

 for they so often lap. I use a ring shoe for a quarter crack 

 and cut away the quarter so it does not rest on the shoe. 

 This keeps the crack from spreading while the horse 

 is traveling. Sometimes for bad cracks I calk at the edge 

 of thehair.-J5//C. E. C. 



Curing a Split Hoof. 



My plan for cuiing a split hoof can be explained in a few 

 Avords. It is to weld on each side of the shoe, near 

 the heel, a piece of iron of sufficient length to come up over 



