112 SCIENTIFIC HORSESHOEIXG. 



or soreness in the feet, resulting from improper shoeing. To 

 shape and properly adjust a shoe to meet the varying require- 

 ments of a horse's foot is an art that is not as thoroughly under- 

 stood as it should be (as I have elsewhere shown), and there are 

 still many primitive methods associated with the professional 

 practice. Ko man is fit to shoe a horse unless he can balance 

 and level a foot scientifically so as to preserve or restore the 

 natural bearings of the joints and hoof, which is, after all, the 

 main thing necessary, and the quantity of skill displayed in this 

 respect constitutes the real difierence between the skilled and 

 unskilled workman. An ill-fitting shoe is as inconvenient and 

 painful to a horse as a tight boot is to his owner, and the com- 

 parison more than justifies itself when it is borne in mind that 

 the horse's shoe becomes a fixture not to be discarded at will, 

 whence follow impaired action, distorted hoofs, corn bruises, 

 inflammations, etc. A foot thus shod may be tortured by the 

 cramping of nails around the toe or be " underpunched" and 

 driven upon the sensitive parts ; or by scooping out the sole and 

 then shoeing with too light, thin plates, causing what is known 

 as "foot scald." Other penalties are inflicted by burning, caus- 

 ing the hoof to become hard and dry; and in destroying the 

 right angle of the foot by having high heels and short toes, or 

 vice versa. A horse with a low gliding action behind can only 

 move efiiciently with light-weight shoes, as the labor in such 

 cases devolves mostly on the muscles of the thigh — the hock not 

 opening wide, and much weight on the foot soon becomes fa- 

 tiguing. The shoes for the hind feet should therefore be light 

 as can be safely worn, and be well concaved on the ground 

 surface, without heel-calks, as shown by Fig. 149. 



The Useful Gait. — It only remains to be added in this 

 connection, that it will pay horsemen to cultivate that most use- 

 ful gait for any horse — however restricted it may appear — 

 namely, a good walk. The steady, good, four-miles-an-hour 



