154 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMEK. 



[Dec. 9, 



give way, and consequently that the horn of the , 



foot must be continually ..ndc-rgoin? a chan-e m j 



its form, which I contend is occasion<.d l.> the : 



shape of the Engh.h shoe now in common use.. 



Having stated that the foot surface of the shoe, 



is invariably a plane inclining from the outer to, 



■ the inner edge, and that the ground surface is , 



convex, and also that a piece of solid iron o 



the form de-cribed is nailed on lo the hool, it 



necessarily follows, as the horse Ireads on the , 



•shoe "hich is convex on the ground surface, 



that the whole weight must be sujiported on an 



edge, and by the nails and clencliL-. Thus the 



we°ight of the animal is continually squeezing 



(lie sides of the hoofs together, and all the horn, 



at the quarters and heels behind the last nails, 



has no power to prevent the weigh! above iroia 



pressing them down the inclined plme. 



"To exemplify this idea, suppose a horse's 

 foot to be put into the mouth of an iron box the 

 size of the foot, and of a conical sliaite, and that 

 it is pressed by a heavy weight ; ilia iron box 

 being of an unyielding substance, and the hool 

 elastic, il must by de^'rees assume he^ lorm ol^ 

 a cone. iS'oiv this is precisely the principle ot 

 the English shoeing, and it is evident that the 

 base or bollom of ihe foot is gradually made 

 less and les^, and becomes variously distorted 

 in form. 



MR GO0D\Vl.\"= SYSTEM. 



1 — Mr Gooiluin^s Shoe—lliegrinmd side. 



Mr. Goodwin conlinue*, in his tenth chap- ihat nails must be pitched inivard, and as the 

 ter; " In describing the French method, I ob- 1 i,o1p is so near Ihe uuler edge of Ihe shoe, the 

 served that there were in my opinion, two i „;,,l must necessarily bedri>eii a considerable 

 great objections to the shoe used in that conn- 1 height in the crust, lo get hold enough to aflord 

 try, viz. the convex ground surface, and the j ihe shoe the necessary support ; ami the nail 

 concave foot surface, hi the shoe 1 have adojit- 1 having bean driven inwards, it must, in the 



ed, 1 have reversed the form on each side, 

 making it concave on the ground surface, and 

 convex on the foot surface, with an inclination 

 fiom the inner to the outer rim. '^o efloct this 

 form on each side, it is necessary that the shoe 

 should be sloped or bevelled on the ground side, 

 from the outward to the inward part all round 

 the shoe, except about an inch and a half at the 

 heels. To accomplisli tliis inclination on the 



course of its direction through the hoof, before 

 Ihe point comes through, have taken a curved 

 direcfion, when the curved part being the near- 

 est to the sensible contents, il must more or less 

 have a tendency to press in proportion to the 

 degree of curve and appro.'iiiuation, on the sen- 

 sible parts. 



Riucli depends on the proper size of tiie nail, 

 have on many occasions seen smiths for want 



loot side, it is necessary to thicken the inner i nf a proper assortment, drive large clumsy nails 

 part ;it the heels, as far as the flat surface ex- ; into small delicate feet, and on the other hand 

 lends. j -mall feeble nails not large enough lo fill the 



It may be supposed that a plane inclining the ; clumsy holes of a heavy shoe for a large foot, 

 reverse of the common English shoes, will pro- j 'I'he nail h<des are generally loo near each 

 duce diseases in the feet of a horse which have \ oiher ; so that the fiequency of driving nails so 

 not appeared before. This is probable if the j near together, renders that [>art of the crust a 

 inclination be carried to an extreme; but =ome i mere shell, full of holes: and the dillicully is 

 years have elapsed without an instance^ ol the rrreat which smiths frequently meet in finding 

 kind in mv practice. I consider, therefore, thai j pven a sound piece of horn to drive the clinch 



il is not likely to occur. There is only one 

 class of hoofs that such a shoo could be applied 

 to, viz. those with extremely concave soles, 

 which are invariably strong, and have abund- 



lhrou"h. It is not unlrequeiit to observe a smith 

 drive a nail half or three-fourths of the way, 

 then pull if out again, gel a fresh nail, give the 

 point a new direction in search of a bit of sound 

 ance of horn, and require a greater opposition ; horn to drive some part of the nail in, and re- 



' peat tliis driving and pulling out again eight, 

 (en, or even twelve times, before he considers 

 ihe nail safe ; and it is by no means an uncom- 

 mon occurrence when shoes are taken ofl, lo 

 find where the nails have perforated the crust 

 in the way described, ihe whole piece come vA' 

 witli fhe shoe as high up as the clinches. Tlie 

 consequence of such a breach in the wall may 



Fij. C — ^^Ir UooCiri.i's Shot — Ihe fool side. 



than any other to counteract contraction by the 

 inclination of the jjl.me. With all other kinds 

 of feet, if the shoe is clear of the sole, it is nol 

 praclicatde lo make the inclination lo such a 

 degree as to prove injuiious. 



In treating of nailing. : •■ Nailing is an impor- 

 tant part ol the art of shoeing and deserves ma- 

 lure COT sideralion, as upon il very much depends 



i,i',lii.. :».-.--" 1- ■' ,. -■ i-^Ki;^--' <•' i".,k 



, , , ,■ ,, „",„;, K Vro... , ■' '• •• • .■ f" '"*' "-'n'mi'iig part ol the crusi, where il U»a 

 ' \h?,.bi\W<^; ,«t.,,V?|cMniWouits"^o llie production t not been usual lo drive nails, lo keep Ihe shoe 

 of those permanent diseases so frequently spp- 1 nn by any means ; he is therefore driven to the 

 ken of. If lameness is caused by a direct stab, |((,e and"heels, or indeed any part nf the wall 

 it will he seen instantly, as it arises from taking 1 „,here he thinks he can gel a nail in. and when 

 loo much hold, pitching the nail inward, and at ; ihe manner in which lhe~ weight of the horse is 

 Ihe same lime driving too high in the crust ; or , hearing (only on an extreme e.lge of Ihe shoe) 

 from the point nf Ihe nail splitting, and taking [ is considered, there must be an unnecessary- 

 a contrary direction to what was intended. j strain on ihc nails and clinche.s, and consenuen- 



" In other cases where the injury has not been c^g^ ii|je tho.-e mentioned, arc unavoidable.' 4s 

 severe, and where the nails are driven too near, ji have alreadv slated that a breach in the wall 

 and press on the sensible parts, lameness will j „„ one side the hoof is frequent, and as il some- 

 nol show itself so soon; and the time of its ap-|iinies happens that both sides of Ihe fool are 

 pearance after shoeing, will be in proportion lo ,orn olT in this .-vay, the toe and back part of ihe 

 the degree of pressuie. In all cases of laoie- heels are then the oidy remaining parts where 

 nes=, where there is no particular external in- 1;, „ail can be driven, and the weight of ihe ani- 

 dication, it is prudent to take the shoe off, when ;,ng| jj Ujrown on these two points ; it may 



Ihence be readily imagined ihal he will nol work 



it proceeds from the ellVcts of a nail it wi 

 •Din be discovered; the usual remedies to 

 counteract inflammation will succeed in these 

 cases. Cidlcctions of m liter on some occasions 

 are found, and produce tioublesome ulcers, dif- 

 ficult to heal; they are, however, of only a 

 temporary nature. 



"When Ihe diameter of thecrust is consider- 

 c<', ev;n in perfect hoofs, and compared w ill) 

 the diameter of the shank of the ordin.iry nail, 

 it cannot excite surprise lo see ihe hoofs ol 



-long in this stale; a run at grass for several 

 monlhs will be necessary to lestore this loss and 

 waste of hoin. It is however probable, that so 

 much mischief has been done lo ihe foot, that 

 a run ol grass will not remove ihe consequences, 

 ajid that some permanent disease has laken 

 place. 



Ill the ordinary manner of nailing, we cither 

 see fhe nail-heads standing far out of Ihe shoe, 

 o,c| the head is so small, or has been rasped by 



horses split and mutilated in the manner they , ,h|. smith lo bring it more on a level wiili the 

 are; but when it is considered that oiie-hall of j shoe, Ihat a few da3s will wear il off. Grooms 

 the feet of horsiii are defective in the natural ii„j coachmen have a practice of t.d<ing Iheir 



lioises lo the foige between the periods of shoe- 



production of horn, and have consequently 

 thin crust, this mo<lc of nailing must ad ' 

 sidcrably to the number ; and as it has been 



a 

 con- 



ii;, or lo reipiire a smith lo atloiid every 



lay morning lo knock down and lighlen all the 



shown by the nature and direction of the hole, clinches, and [o renew nails. The starling of 



