' APPLYING THE SHOE. 77 



clips, and it is to be correctly fitted. The farrier should 

 so mould the shoe that it be an exact reproduction in out- 

 line of the circumference of the hoof. To make it appear 

 so when applied, it may be necessary to remove a little 

 of the wall at the part corresponding to the clip, merely 

 to make the fit more accurate and not allow any portion 

 of the shoe to project unduly beyond the horn. 



The length of the shoe will vary with the uses to 

 which the horse is put. For racing, hunting, and other 

 purposes in which the hind limbs are carried forward to 

 an extreme degree in propelling the body, the branches 

 of the fore-shoe must on no account extend beyond the 

 inflexion of the wall, otherwise the shoe is liable to be 

 torn off" by the hind-foot, and the horse thrown down. 

 The end of the branch should also be carefully rounded 

 off and bevelled (as in Fig. 13), so as to leave nothing 

 whatever by which the hind-shoe might catch it. 



With harness and draught horses this extreme care in 

 shortening and bevelling the heels is not so necessary ; 

 indeed, in the heavier and slower-paced animals, it is fre- 

 quently advantageous to allow the shoes to be rather 

 longer at the heels than the hoof itself. 



As a rule, then, the shoe ought to be wide enough at 

 the toe, quarters, and heels, to support the entire thick- 

 ness of the wall, but yet not so wide or long as to en- 

 danger the opposite limbs by striking them, or run the 

 chance of being torn off by the other feet treading upon 

 it ; and it should not interfere with the frog, or prevent 

 that organ from playing its part in the physiology of the 

 foot. 



The adjustment of the shoe to the exact circumference 

 of the hoof is usually efiected at the same time as the 

 fitting together of the two surfaces of iron and horn 

 which are to remain in contact. To render both accu- 

 rate, the horse should always be shod at a forge. A ham- 





