274 SCIENTIFIC HORSESHOEING. 



Hitching, its Causes and Cure. — Hitching and hopping 

 are defects so common tliat I wish to say a word about them, 

 inasmuch as I have been requested to do so; and while I know 

 that no two individuals agree upon this important matter, I am 

 glad to i)ut forward my theory, if only to draw out others. The 

 defect is mostly confined to the hind legs; but there are some 

 instances — notably that of the famous trotting mare, Lida Bas- 

 sett — of hitching in the front leg. As she was one of the fast- 

 est in her day, the example will be a good one. When she was 

 up to her speed, the stride of her left front foot was some four 

 inches longer than that of her right front foot. It was some 

 time before the trainer knew the cause or her hitching. 



When I first began to study up the causes of this defect, I 

 assigned it to several, and later experience has borne me out. 

 First, the feet may be unbalanced, or improperly Aveighted in 

 front ; second, illy made and poorly fitted shoes in front may 

 cause the horse to scalp her coronet on the inside pastern ; 

 third, drawing too much weight when up to speed may be a 

 source of the trouble ; fourth, too long drives when out of con- 

 dition may cause hitching; fifth, being overdriven when short 

 of work; and sixth, hitching may spring from curb, ring-bone, 

 or spavin. 



It may, however, be maintained that a most frequent cause 

 of hitching is unbalanced or improperly weighted feet. These 

 cause a horse to lose his natural stride. For instance, taking 

 oflT front shoes of fifteen or eighteen ounces, to which weights 

 the horse has become accustomed, and substituting shoes of less 

 weight, will make a vast difference. But whatever may be the 

 cause of hitching behind, it will always be found by measuring 

 the stride of the hitching leg and foot, that it is from four to 

 seven inches shorter than the other. Curb, ring-bone and 

 spavin often cause hitching and hopping in the leg affected with 

 any of these disorders. An excellent method of overcoming 

 the defect from these sources is to shoe the hitching leg with a 



