114 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



eled hoof is set flat to the ground, the grounding wear of a shoe 

 should be uniform at every point, though the toe will always show 

 wear due to scouring at the moment of breaking over. Everything 

 which tends to lengthen the stride tends also to make the grounding 

 wear more pronounced in the heels of the shoe, while all causes which 

 shorten the stride, as stiffening of the limbs through age, overwork, 

 or disease, bring the grounding wear nearer the toe. An exception 

 should be noted, however, in founder, in which the grounding wear 

 is most pronounced at the heels. 



If one branch of the shoe is found to be worn much thinner 

 than the other, the thinner branch has either been set too near the 

 middle line of the foot (fitted too close), where it has been bearing 

 greater weight while rubbing against the ground, or, what is much 

 more often the case, the section of wall above the thinner branch has 

 been too long (too high) , or the opposite section of wall has been too 

 short (too low). One-sided w r ear, uneven setting down of the feet, 

 and an unnatural course of the wall are often found together. How 

 much an old shoe can tell us, if we take time and pains to decipher 

 its scars! 



The horse should next be observed at a walk and at a trot or 

 pace, from in front, from behind, and from the side, and the break- 

 ing over, the carriage of the feet, and the manner of setting them to 

 the ground carefully noted and remembered. A horse does not al- 

 ways move just as his standing position would seem to imply. Often 

 there is so great a difference in the form and slant of two fore hoofs or 

 two hind hoofs that we are in doubt as to their normal shape, when 

 a few steps at a trot will usually solve the problem instantly by 

 showing us the line of flight of the hoofs and referring them to 

 the regular, base-wide or base-narrow form. No man is competent 

 either to shoe a horse or to direct the work till he has made the pre- 

 cited observations. 



Preparation of the Hoof for the Shoe. After raising the 

 clinches of the nails with a rather dull clinch-cutter (buffer) ^and 

 drawing the nails one at a time, the old shoe is critically examined 

 and laid aside. Remaining stubs of nails are then drawn or punched 

 out and the hoof freed of dirt and partially detached horn. The 

 farrier has now to dress the overgrown hoof to receive the new shoe ; 

 in other words, he has to form a base of support so inclined to the 

 direction of the pasterns that in motion this surface shall be set flat 

 upon the ground. He must not rob the hoof nor leave too much 

 horn ; either mistake may lead to injury. If he has made a careful 

 preliminary examination he knows what part of the wall requires re- 

 moval and what part must be left, for he already knows the direc- 

 tion of the foot-axis and the wear of the old shoe, and has made up 

 his mind just where and how much horn must be removed to leave 

 the hoof of proper length and the foot-axis straight. 



A greatly overgrown hoof may be quickly shortened with sharp 

 nippers and the sole freed of semidetached flakes of horn. The con- 

 cave sole of a thick-walled, strong hoof may be pared out around 



