THE PR.ACTICAL HORSESHOER. 



227 



not, would be a benefit to horses as much as India rubber 

 and be ^deldiug- euoiii^h to take otY the jar of the hard pave- 

 ment, but not enoug-h to let the shoe move up and down 

 sufficiently^ to looseu it. — By B. F. Spalding. 



Bar Shoes and their Uses. 



It is impossible for a man to know all the good ideas of 

 the trade. If Ave err in our conclusions it is no fault of the 

 heart, but rather something that happens to the best of us 

 sometimes. When a bar shoe is to be made the blacksmith 

 puts his thinking* cap on. He is on the threshold of vet- 



Fig. 131— A Form of Bar Shoe. 



erinary surgery. Of all the methods which present them- 

 selves, that which is most acceptable for the case in hand is 

 the one sought. Practical experience opens the way for the 

 judgment to choose. Then comes the practical test. When 

 the crossbar of a shoe rests on the soft part or extremit}^ of 

 the frog it is apt to cause injury to it, but when it is placed 

 farther towards the point it rests on the harder part of the 

 frog, producing better results. It is impossible to point 

 out a correct method of fittiug a bar shoe, as each new case 

 differs so much from all others. Some smiths cannot make 

 a bar shoe, because they are poor forgers of iron. Such 



