THE PRACTICAL HORSESHOER. 203 



feet are kept moist and cool. To shoe him, if he is not too 

 far gone, I Avould level up the seat of the shoe even with 

 the sole with layers of harness leather, and then nail the 

 shoe, which I would have tolerably wide, on top of it. — Bij 

 A. D. 



Shoeing and Straightening a Crooked Foot. 



My way of shoeing- and straightening a crooked foot is 

 shown ill the accompanying illustration. Fig. 113, in which I 

 take a mule's shoe for an example, because mules are more 

 subject to crooked feet than are horses. With this shoe I 

 straightened, in six months, the hoof of a mule that walked 

 on the side of his foot. If the ankle of the foot runs in, put 

 the extension of the toe A on the inside of the shoe. If the 

 ankle runs out put A on the outside. Fit well and tack on. 

 It may be somewhat troublesome at first, but the animal 

 will soon get used to it, and there is no danger of interfer- 

 ing.— 5?/ J. E. M. 



Shoeing Flat-footed Horses. 



Some men think that a flat-footed horse should always be 

 shod with a bar shoe. When the foot is healthy I put on a 

 plain shoe, Avell beveled on the side next to the sole as far 

 back as the last nail-hole. Particular pains must be taken 

 not to let the shoe bear on the sole, for, if so, it will be apt 

 to lame the horse. 



• I have had many cases of lameness caused in this man- 

 ner, and cured them by paring the sole a little where the 

 shoe rested. 



If the shell is chipped off on the edges so that it is not 

 level with the sole, I place a strip of leather under the shoe 

 all the way around the hoof. This prevents the shoe from 



