GROWTH OF THE HOOF. 29 



serviceable in checking the tendency to slip ; the animal 

 instinctively plants the posterior portions of the foot ex- 

 clusively on the ground. 



Dark hoofs are generally the best; they owe their 

 color to the presence of minute particles of black pig- 

 ment, which contains a notable proportion of iron, and 

 are somewhat resisting and indestructible. 



A good hoof should have the wall unbroken, its outer 

 face smooth and even ; the angle at the front not less than 

 50° — the lower or ground face of the front hoof should 

 be nearly circular in outline — the sole slightly concave at 

 the circumference, deeper at the centre ; the border of 

 the wall ought to be thick, at the toe, gradually thinning 

 toward the heels, but at the inflexion or commencement 

 of the bar a strong mass of horn should be found ; the 

 bars should be free from fracture, and the frog moderately 

 developed, firm and solid. 



The hind foot should possess the same soundness of 

 horn, though it differs from the fore hoof in being more 

 oval in outline from the toe to the heels ; the sole is also 

 more concave, the frog smaller, and the heels not so high. 

 The horn is usually less hard and resisting — a circum- 

 stance perhaps due to the hind feet being more frequently 

 exposed to humidity in the stable than the fore ones. 



GROWTH OF THE HOOF. 



In any treatise on shoeing, the growth of the hoof can- 

 not be left out of consideration, as on it the foot, in an 

 unshod condition, depends for an efficient protection, 

 while without this process the farrier's art would quickly 

 be of no avail. 



In its unarmed state, the hoof being exposed to con- 

 tinual wear on its lower surface, from contact with the 



