BREEDS OF HORSES 115 



the point of the frog, but not so much as to remove all evidences of 

 exfoliation. The wall should be leveled with the rasp till its full 

 thickness, the white line, and an eighth of an inch of the margin of 

 the sole are in one horizontal plane, called the "bearing surface of 

 the hoof." The bars if long may be shortened, but never pared on 

 the side. The branches of the sole in the angle between the bars 

 and the wall of the quarters should be left a little lower than the 

 wall, so as not to be pressed upon by the inner web of the shoe. 

 Corns, or bruises of the pododerm, are usually a result of leaving a 

 thick mass of dry, unyielding horn at this point. The frog should 

 not be touched further than to remove tags or layers that are so loose 

 as to form no protection. A soft frog will shorten itself spontane- 

 ously by the exfoliation of superficial layers of horn, while if the 

 frog is dry, hard, and too prominent it is better to soften it by ap- 

 plying moisture in some form and allow it to wear away naturally 

 than to pare it down. It is of advantage to have the frog project be- 

 low the level of the wall an amount equal to the thickness of a plain 

 shoe, though we rarely see frogs of such size except in draft horses. 

 The sharp lower border of the wall should be rounded with the rasp 

 to prevent its being bent outward and broken away. Finally, the 

 foot is set to the ground and again observed from all sides to make 

 sure that the lines bounding the hoof correspond with the direction 

 of the long pastern. 



Characteristics of the Shoe. The shoe is an artificial base of 

 support, by no means ideal, because it interferes to a greater or less 

 degree with the physioloorv of the foot, but indispensable except for 

 horses at slow work on soft ground. Since a proper surface of sup- 

 port is of the greatest importance 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 com- 

 mon 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 w r e must endeavor to 

 give the shoe that form which the hoof 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 overhanging 

 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 



