14 PRACTICAL HORSESHOEING. 



The horse's foot may be said, for practical purposes, 

 to be intended not only as an organ of support and de- 

 fence (or offence), but also as that part of the limb in 

 which the efforts created elsewhere are concentrated, and 

 as the instrument through which propulsion and progres- 

 sion may be mainly effected. It is also largely endowed, 

 in a natural state, with the sense of touch, which enables 

 the animal to travel with safety and confidence on rough 

 as well as even, and on soft as well as hard ground. 



When we come to examine it in a methodical and 

 careful manner, we find that it has for its basis the last 

 three bones of the limb — the small pastern, navicular, and 

 coffin or pedal bone. The latter is more particularly the 

 foundation of the foot, and is the nucleus on which the 

 hoof is moulded, and which in shape it much resembles. 

 At its highest point in front, the large extensor tendon 

 of the foot is inserted, and in the middle of its lower face 

 or sole is implanted the powerful tendon which bends or 

 flexes the foot ; these tendons are the chief agents in pro- 

 gression. An elastic apparatus surrounds them and a 

 portion of the pedal bone, and the whole is enveloped by 

 a membrane that attaches the hoof in the closest possible 

 manner to its outer surface. .Into each of the wings or 

 sides of the bone (for it is crescent-shaped, the horns ex- 

 tending backward on each side) is fixed a large plate of 

 cartilage that rises above the hoof, where it may readily 

 be felt, and which has important relations with its fellow 

 on the opposite side, as well as with other elastic bodies 

 admirably disposed to sustain weight, prevent jar, and 

 insure that lightness and springiness which form so strik- 

 ing a feature in the horse's movements. The navicular 

 bone is a narrow piece, placed transversely between the 

 wings of the coffin bone, and is intended to throw the 

 flexing tendon farther from the centre of motion, and thus 

 increase its power ; the tendon plays over its posterior or 



