FAULTY CONFORMATION AND MOVEMENT. 207 



a horse is allowed to remain in this condition, the more difficult 

 it will be to remedy it, but much may be done in most cases to 

 bring the feet to a correct bearing by timely methods of shoe- 

 ing. Splay-footed horses are usually liable to strike or cut their 

 knees, hence, in undertaking to shoe them for the prevention of 

 this trouble, first examine the position of both fore and hind 

 limbs as they stand on a level floor, and note how they are dis • 

 posed. Every splay-footed, knee-hitting horse places his front 

 feet with the outside margin of the toe first in contact with the 

 ground, with a twist to the inside heel as it drops. The outside 

 toe being the high point of the foot and standing out of the 

 rectilinear way of movement, the knee of that limb can not 

 swing out far enough to clear the other in passing. The con- 

 trolling power of the muscles is exercised at the ground resist- 

 ance, and if the foot leaves the ground straight it will be carried 

 straight, but if it inclines to wind or dip in or out, the position 

 of the foot on the ground will indicate when it is not in line 

 with the normal axis of the limb. 



To overcome knee-hitting in splay-footed horses, the direc- 

 tions for leveling and balancing the foot, as per Fig. 23, Chapter 

 IV, must be observed. If there is a dished-in of the outside 

 quarter and toe, rasp or file it to a line from ground to coronet, 

 as shown in Figs. 17 and 18. Then, if more length is required 

 for the ground surface, let the shoe extend over the front part 

 of the hoof to meet the necessities of the case. The more the 

 foot winds or twists the greater the projection of shoe must be 

 over outside toe. 



Fig. 100, on the following page, represents the pattern of 

 shoe designed for extreme cases of knee hitting, and shows ex- 

 tension of web over the rim of outside toe to prevent the inward 

 dipping of the foot as it leaves the ground, that carries it over 

 against the opposite limb in motion. Where the inside base of 

 the hoof can not be pared from toe to heel to bring the foot in 

 line with normal center of limb, carefully observe if pastern 



