204: SCIENTIFIC HORSESHOEING. 



Care of the Foot from Colthood. — I have often read and 

 heard the statements of many authorities to the effect that the 

 inside (quarters of the horse's foot were weaker than the out- 

 side quarters ; hut from personal ohservation and practical 

 knowledge, I can safely say that those statements are true only 

 in cases of disproportionate huild or where the foot has hecome 

 altered or atiected hv niismanafjement or iiiiiiroiu'c shoeine:. 

 In a perfect, healthful foot, such as is shown in Fig. 24, 

 however, the different parts are, without exception, symmetrical. 



And that T might satisfy myself fully in this regard, I have 

 for many years visited the fertilizing factories, and with a com- 

 pass have closely examined thousands of green specimens after 

 they were stripped, and measured them from the center of 

 fissures to the union of tlie inner wall and floor of sole on hoth 

 sides from (quarters hack to heels, and never found an instance 

 of a healthful foot where the difference exceeded the sixteenth 

 of an inch. And even when the outer wall has grown more 

 luxuriantly upon one side than the other, have I ever found 

 uny perceptible difference in the inner part of the foot. I have 

 also closely examined with calipers the wall upon both quarters 

 of feet which never had been shod or tampered with, from the 

 center of the back through the quarters to the heels, and never 

 found any variation in the thickness. And I have gone still 

 further to satisfy myself upon this point. I have repeated vis- 

 ited stock farms containing fifty or seventy-five horses and colts, 

 whose feet never have been shod or tampered with, and upon 

 careful inspection have found that the one-sided growth was due 

 to the comparative length of the neck and legs. If the legs 

 were short and the neck long, the feet would be straight ; that 

 is, if the horse was perfectly built, the legs and neck propor- 

 tional, the feet were always straight in front and the growth of 

 the foot symmetrical. If the legs were long and the neck short, 

 the growth was more luxuriant upon the outside quarters. In 

 some instances where the points of the shoulder were wide and 



