THE PRACTICAL HORSESHOER. 199 



Shoeing Flat-footed Horses. 



To shoe a flat-footed horse, pare the bottom of the foot as 

 little as possible at the heel, just enoug-h to level the foot. 

 At the toe pare off all surplus horn or hoof ; avoid cutting- 

 the sole. In fitting- use an ordinar^^ front shoe. Concave 

 it well with an oval-faced hammer. Toe it with a heavv 

 piece of steel according- to the size of shoe. Turn a good 

 solid heel and leave the steel about one-quarter or three- 

 eighths of an inch higher than the toe. Be particular in fit- 

 ting the shoe to the foot. It is very difficult to give a def- 

 inite rule for this operation, as feet differ. My explanation 

 that follows applies to very flat feet. Fit the shoe back of 

 the foot and round off what projects Avith the rasp. Some 

 feet are made better by taking off one-half inch, giving a 

 good chance to get a fair nail hold, bringing the heel well 

 around to the frog in order to cover the point of horn at the 

 heel, with the shoe. This is done to keep the lieel from set- 

 tling down between the ends of the shoe. This trouble is 

 alwaj^s met with in any width shoe, because it causes too 

 much weight on the quarters of the foot. 



Make the shoe perfectl}^ level from heel to toe. The foot 

 should be level, so that Avhen you lay on the shoe to nail 

 there will be no rock to it. Get as deep a nail hold as pos- 

 sible, so as not to break the foot. — Bij G. 



Flat-footed Horses — How -Should They be Shod? 



Sometimes the bottom of the foot has been cut away 

 until it becomes rounded like the to]D of a tortoise shell. 

 Such a horse has large, flat feet, thin shell, or meat3^ foot, 

 wide heels, thin sole, and large frog, of course. He should 

 be shod with a wide web, thick shoe, concaved, to make the 

 bearing come on the outer edge of the foot to protect the 



