200 THE PRACTICAL HORSE KEEPER. 



rapidly increases, until at the foot it has become several pounds. 

 Therefore it is, that a shoe six or twelve ounces heavier than 

 is absolutely necessary to protect the wall from wear, occasions 

 a great waste of muscular power of the limb, and consequent 

 fatigue. If we consider the rapidity with which the weight 

 increases from the shoulder or hip towards the foot, the number 

 of steps a horse takes in a journey of a few hours, and that 

 there are four feet so surcharged, we shall gain some notion of 

 the many needless tons which the animal has been compelled 

 to carry, and the strain thrown upon foot and limb — a strain 

 they were never intended, and are not adapted by nature, to 

 bear. All shoes should, then, be as light as may be com- 

 patible with the wear demanded from them. 



For all horses except, perhaps, the heaviest animals em- 

 ployed in drays and heavy waggons, the lower or ground face 

 of the shoes should be concave, and the upper or foot surface 

 plane, or nearly so. They should be retained by the smallest 

 number of nails possible — six or seven in the fore-shoes and 

 eight in the hind-shoes. Calks should never be employed for 

 light horses. With the heaviest horses — the dray or waggon 

 animals — it may be advantageous to have toe and heel calks 

 to afford secure foothold. 



The procedure in shoeing is simple in the extreme. When 

 the old shoe is removed from the hoof, nothing more is re- 

 quired than to remove the excessive growth of the wall by 

 means of the rasp, applied to the lower margin or ground, or 

 sole border — not the front of the wall. The amount to be 

 removed will depend upon the growth, and of this the farrier's 

 skill in his art should enable him to judge. It is at the toe 

 or front portion that the excess is usually found, and this 

 should be removed until, in an ordinary hoof, wlien j^laced on 

 the ground, the angle should be about 50° to 52°. The angle 

 can be easily measured by the experienced eye. The sole or 

 frog should not be touched, not even the loose flakes removed ; 



