NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Published by JOHN B. RUSSFXL, at the c orner of C ongre sa and l.indail Streets, Boston— THOMAS G, FESSFNnFN, Editor. 



VOL. IV. 



FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1825. 



ON SHOEING HORSES. | 



The following articles, with the cngrnvinj,-, are CK- ! 

 traded and abridged from a useful work entitled " A I 

 New System of Shoenig Horses ; abridged from the .^ 

 work of Joseph Goodwin, Veterinary Surgeon to hi3 1 

 majesty George IV., and member of the Royal Col- ) 

 lege of Surgeons ; containing a comparison between 

 the En»lish and French methods, and observations on I 

 the diseases of the Feet, connected with shoeing, and 

 observations on bleeding — a view of the anatomy of 

 the Foot," &c. Published by Wells & Lilly, Boston. 



The foot of (he Horse dpvelopes a curious, 

 complicated and beautiful structure. It com- 

 prises all that portion from the coffin-joint down- 

 wards ; and for the sake of perspicuity is gen- 

 erally divided into the internal and external 

 ioot. 



INTERNAL FOOT. 



The internal fool of the horse is composed of 

 various sensible parts, appropiialed to diflerent 

 purposps. It comprises in the first place the 

 navicular and coffin bones. The navicular-bone 

 constitutes the posterior part of the coflSn-joinI 

 and is connected to the pastern and cotlin-bones 

 by ligaments. The coffin-bone is the lowest and 

 last bone ol either extremity. These tivo bones 

 are the base and support of the column of bones 

 above, and act as pullics to (hose tendons, which 

 are inserted into the foot. Their union serves 

 to prevent concussion when the limb is in mo- 

 don. 



The internal foot comprises in the next place, 



n uoniuu ^r vi.oae tenuJ., - -_- . j-__, , 



for insertion; a considerable quantity ot tatty 

 ?nbstance, situated behind the back tendons, and 

 serving as a soft and elastic cushion for those 

 tendon's to act, or rest upon ; also two thin car- 

 tilages growing out laterally from the cofhn- 

 bones, which help to prevent concussion and 

 keep the heels of the fool expanded ; the sensi- 

 ble frog and sole ; and lastly a sensible lamina- 

 ted substance, covering all the anterior and lat- 

 eral parts of the internal fool, which being 

 received into corresponding lamina on the in- 

 ternal surface of the crust, support the whole 

 weight of the animal. This has been proved 

 by removing the horny sole, frog, and bars, 

 (constitutmg the bottom of the fool) when the 

 crust was found sufficient (o sustain the horse's 

 weight. These laminae possess great elasticity, 

 and'aflford to the foot a most curious and com- 

 plicated spring. The internal foot secretes the 

 external hoot ; in other words, the external 

 horny hoof grows from the internal sensible 

 foot: consequently the in(ernal foo( must ne- 

 cessarily be supplied with numerous blood yes- 

 -sels and nerves, which lender it highly sensible 

 and easily inflamed. Any contraction of, or 

 undue pressure upon, the horny hoof is propa- 

 gated to the internal sensible foot, and inier- 

 rupts its functions; consequently, pain, disease, 

 and lameness follow. 



EXTERNAL FOOT. 



The external fool, or horny hoof is intended 

 to enclose and protect from injury the interial 

 Tascular and sensible foot, h is composed cF a 



iiard, elastic but in'iensiMs subslanre, very dur- 

 able, and adtniraldy calculated for the purpose 

 for which it vvas intended. It consists of the 

 ^vall or crust, the sole, the frog-, and the bars. 

 The i)p[ier part of the crust, where it is con- 

 nected with the skin, is called the coronet. The 

 lower part in front, the Ice ; the sides of the 

 crust are named (he quartprs ; the quarters ter- 

 minate in the heels ; and the heels are connect- 

 ed with the Irog, The crust descends from the 

 coronet to the base (in a well formed foot) in 

 a regular slope, at an angle of about forty-iive 

 degrees, giving to the hoof somewhat of a con- 

 ical figure. The inside of the crust is almost 

 entirely covered vvith a beautiful set of laminas, 

 which very much resemble the underside of a 

 mushroom. These are received into and united 

 <vith similar laminK, situated on the outer sur- 

 face of the internal sensilde font, and constitute 

 a most powert'ul spring to the horse in motion. 

 The number of laminas situated on the inside of 

 the crust, has been computed at about live hun- 

 dred, in a middling sized horse. The outer 

 surlace of the internal foot contains an equal 

 number to receive them. Each lamina, or fold, 

 has two sides and an e<lge ; making three sur- 

 faces of union to each lamina. Consequently 

 one foot of a middling sized horse has three 

 thousand points of union, giving to it a surfacp 

 ol lour square feet. Now as a horse has four 

 feet, and as each foot has a surface or bearing 

 of about four square feet, it follows that a horse 

 (reads on sixteen square feet, instead of as ma- 

 ny inches, as might naturally be supposed. It has 

 between tl^e'-Vo^iti^ fcHa!te,£"afi'"()fiJ^'^.'i'.VV>l'.?." 

 face of the internal foot, are equal to tlie sup- 

 port of the weight of the animal, when the 

 horny hoof, sole, frog, and bars are removed. 

 This proves pretty clearly that the crust was 

 intended to support the weight of the horse, 

 and not the frog as some have believed. Pro- 

 fessor Coleman founded bis system of Shoeing 

 upon the idea that the frog ought constantly (o 

 press upon (he ground and suppor( in a great 

 measure the weight of the animal. I am inform- 

 ed from a source that may be credited that Mr. 

 Coleman's system is not now practised at the 

 Veterinary Ciollpge, where he is Professor and 

 principal Director, nor in the Cavalry, where 

 he is the first Veterinary Surgeon. It should 

 seem therefore that experience has not proved 

 its practical utility. 



OF THE FRENCH SYSTESi. 

 [3 — French Horst nail.] 



INo. 20. 



The French Shoe is perhaps rather wider 

 than the common English shoe ; it is convex on 

 the ground side, and concave on the foot side, 

 and equally thick throughout. It has eight nail 

 holes at equal distances round the anterior part 

 of the shoe; but the last hole on the inside 

 quarter ia generally at a greater distance from 

 the end of the shoe than the one on the outer 



quarter; Ihfe holes are punched with a square 

 CQuntersuiil head deep into the shoe, and at 

 some distailco from the outer rim, and tliey are 

 made obliquely, to give the point of the nail a 

 direction outward. 



On the t'()ot side of the shoe there is a m'^ch 

 greater space between the nail-holes and (he 

 outer edge (ban in (he English shoe ; and in- 

 stead of the shoe being straight from the toe to 

 the heel, it is considerably curved at the toe, 

 which is called by the French veterinarians the 

 " adjusting balance.''' 



The advanlage of the French method of nail- 

 ing on the shoe, is very superior to the English, 

 and the form of the shoe is so admirable, that 1 

 cannot conceive, situated as we are so near to 

 (hat country, how so superior a system has not 

 long before been attempted among us, for we 

 certainly have not seen any plan of shoeing, 

 which possesses such a decided superiority. 



Ifive refer to the action of the fore-leg, it 

 will tend to explain some of the advantages of 

 the curved shoe. 



When a horse is about to move, the first in- 

 dication of motion in the fore leg is a bend at 

 the knee, which necessarily raises the heels, 

 and Ihey become more and more elevated till 

 the toe (which isthe last part that leaves the 

 ground) is lifted for the moment that the foot 

 is suspended. The base of the foot, just at its 

 leaving the 2:ronnil, is almost perpendicular, 

 when the knee is bent to its fullest extent; the 

 foot is then in the same position with the heels 

 of the shoe pointing upwards, if we consider 

 this first part of the motion of the limb, we find 

 a semicircle;' anci'm,' viewing •\?fy''.V,.<}essribes 

 joints connected with the action, the necessity 

 ofa curve at the toe is clearly demonstrated; 

 again, the form of a shoe worn out at once 

 shows (ha( it must be more suitable to put on a 

 new one of that form, rather than suffer the ac- 

 tion of the leg to be opposed until ii is worn to 

 that shape. In the second part of the action, 

 when the foot comes again to the ground, the 

 quarters and heels touch first, and they are Vlie 

 only parts occupied in placing it on the ground 

 again. 



Notwithstanding that I am fully convinced of 

 the decided superiority of the French method of 

 nailing on the shoes, and of the peculiar advan- 

 tages of the curve at the toe, still I have two 

 objections to the- French system in general, viz. 

 (he convex form of the shoe on (he ground side, 

 and (he concave form on the foot side. I object 

 to the convex form because the horse is by no 

 means so safe or secure on his feet, more par- 

 ticularly when going over stones. To (he se- 

 cond, I refer for my objections (o (he chap(er 

 on (he common English shoe, where (he effec(s 

 of (he concave form of (he foot side of the shoe 

 are fully described. 



The passage referred to is as follows. " If 

 we consider that the hoofs of horses are elastic 

 and yielding, and that iron is a solid unyielding 

 body, we may readily conceive when an elastic 

 body is bound on, or nailed to an inelastic one, 

 if there be much action or motion, or much 

 weight to support, that the yielding body will 



