42 



PRACTICAL HORSESHOEING. 



jar to these and the whole limb is great, and even dan-, 

 gerous ; while the back parts of the foot are unduly 

 strained to relieve them. 



It must be, then, very evident, . that levelling and 

 bringing the ground-face of the hoof to the necessary 

 length — equal on both sides from toe to heel, and justly 

 proportioned in depth at toe and heel — is no trifling mat- 

 ter, as the soundness of the limb and ease in progression 

 are concerned in the operation. Excessive length or ob- 

 liquity of hoof strains back tendons and ligament; a 

 hoof long at the toe and low at the heels (Fig. 9, a b) 

 increases the obliquity ; on the contrary, when the heels 

 are high and the toe of the hoof too short (Fig. 9, c, <Z), 

 the bones suffer, and the whole limb experiences more or 

 less the effects of concussion. 



Fig. 9. 



In both cases progression is fatiguing, imperfect, and 

 hurtful to an extent proportionate to the excess. 



Another disadvantage in shoeing, arising from the ten- 

 dency of the hoof to increase in length at the toe, and 

 also from its form, is the change in the position of the 

 shoe itself. The hoof being more or less conical in shape, 

 with its base opposed to the ground, it follows that, as it 

 increases in length, its lower circumference also widens in 

 every direction ; the result is that the shoe, although at 

 one time accurately fitting the hoof, gradually becomes 

 too narrow ; at the same time the increase in length at 

 the toe carries the iron plate forward, away from the heels. 



