52 PRACTICAL HORSESHOEING. 



complete his work by opening-up the heels. This opera- 

 tion is quite as injurious — if it is not more so — than muti- 

 lating the sole and frog ; it consists in making a deep cut 

 into the angle of the wall at the heel, where it becomes 

 bent inward to form the bar. In the unshod, natural 

 state, or in the unmutilated foot, this is a particularly 

 strong portion of the hoof, and serves a very useful pur- 

 pose, its utility being mainly owing to its strength. From 

 its preventing contraction of the heels, it has been named 

 the arc boutant or " buttress " of the foot by the French 

 hippotomists. 



When it is hacked away by the farrier's knife, the 

 wall of the hoof is not only considerably weakened, but 

 the hoof gradually contracts toward the heels. 



Horse dealers and grooms are the chief patrons of 

 " well-opened " heels, as they give the foot a false appear- 

 ance by making it look wider in this region. 



The fashion of paring the sole until it yields to the 

 pressure of the thumb has been perpetuated through the 

 ignorance of those who have had the management of 

 horses, or the traditions and routine of the artisans who 

 have more especially to attend to the requirements of the 

 hoofs of these animals. But it must be observed that this 

 paring, slicing away the frog, and opening up the heels, 

 has been largely due, in later times, to the false notions 

 propounded by some writers regarding the functions of 

 the foot — such as the descent of the sole, the inability of 

 the frog to sustain contact with the ground, and the ex- 

 pansion of the back parts of the hoof every time the 

 weight was imposed upon it. It is scarcely necessary 

 here to say more than that these notions are at least ex- 

 tremely exaggerated, and that the practices which were 

 maintained to facilitate these supposed functions have 

 been productive of an immense amount of suffering and 

 loss of animal life. 



