212 SCIENTIFIC HORSESHOEING. 



motion or the plain rolling-motion shoe, which, being rolled in 

 front, will assist the horse in getting over the toe of the foot 

 quickly, and thus get out of the way of the other parts. In 

 dressing the hind feet, lower the heels as much as safety will 

 permit, keeping the front part of the toes at the natural angle, 

 80 as to have all the ground surface possible. Apply the shoe. 

 Fig. 139. By placing long heel calkins at the sides of the heels, 

 •or allowing the shoe to extend at least one-half inch longer than 

 the heel of the foot, the down action of the flexor perforans will 

 be lessened, and in a relative degree, the quick-up action of the 

 foot will also be lessened. The weight of the shoes to be worn 

 must be determined accurately by the driver or proprietor. 

 I have often shod this class of trotting horses with front 

 shoes weighing eleven ounces, and with hind shoes weighing 

 rfifteen ounces, before I could get them balanced and square in 

 their gait. 



Running horses are more liable to obtain speedy cuts than 

 trotting horses ; this is occasioned principally by the carrying 

 of weight upon their backs, the weight being placed more di- 

 rectly on their front legs than on their hind ones. In plating 

 running horses to overcome this difiiculty, level and straighten 

 the front feet, having the heels and frog of an even bearing 

 when the feet are placed on the ground ; shoe with thin three- 

 quarter tips, beveling the outside of the plate from the ground 

 to the sole-bearing surface, so as to obviate the possibility of 

 the leg being cut by the shoe in passing. The punishment of 

 speedy cutting is oftentimes so severe that the race is lost by the 

 horse being unable to withstand it without his speed being re- 

 tarded more or less. 



Ankle, Shin and Knee Cutting. — In ankle or shin cutting, 

 it will generally be observed that the ankles are tilted inward. 

 Cutting often depends weakness or leg weariness, and is liable 

 to happen to horses when driven long distances or when they 



