150 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



The following extract from the article by John W. Adams, 

 A.B., V.M.D., found on pages 565-569, " Diseases of the Horse," 

 gives an outline of the properties of horseshoes, and the special 

 peculiarities of the chief classes of shoes : 



"The shoe is an artificial base of support, by no means ideal, 

 because it interferes, to a greater or less degree, with the physiology 

 of the foot, but indispensable, except for horses at slow work on soft 

 ground. Since a proper surface of support is of the greatest import- 

 ance in preserving the health of the feet and legs, it is necessary to 

 consider the various forms of shoes best adapted to the different forms 

 of hoofs. Certain properties are common to all shoes and may be 

 considered first. They are form, width, thickness, length, surfaces, 

 borders, fullering, nail-holes, and clips. 



" Form. — Every shoe should have the form of the hoof for which 

 it is intended, provided the hoof retains its proper shape; but for every 

 hoof that has undergone change of form we must endeavor to give 

 the shoe that form which the foot originally possessed. Front shoes 

 and hind shoes, rights and lefts, should be distinctly different and 

 easily distinguishable. 



" Width. — All shoes should be wider at the toe than at the ends 

 of the branches. The average width should be about double the 

 thickness of the wall at the toe. 



" Thickness. — The thickness should be sufficient to make the shoe 

 last about four weeks and should be uniform, except in special cases. 



" Length. — This will depend upon the obliquity of the hoof, 

 viewed in profile. The acute-angled hoof has long over-hanging heels, 

 and a considerable proportion of the weight borne by the leg falls in 

 the posterior half of the hoof. For such a hoof the branches of the 

 shoe should extend back of the buttresses to a distance nearly double 

 the thickness of the shoe. For a hoof of the regular form, the branches 

 should project an amount equal to the thickness of the shoe. In a 

 stumpy hoof, the shoe need not project more than one-eighth of an 

 inch. In all cases the shoe should cover the entire 'bearing surface' 

 of the wall. 



" Surfaces. — The surface that is turned toward the hoof is known 

 as the ' upper,' or ' hoof surface,' of the shoe. That part of the hoof 

 surface which is in actual contact with the horn is called the ' bearing 



