fj?2 - IMPROVED SHOE AND FULLER. 



A.n aJjustin-f curve iipwards, which they give to the toe, could add nothing 

 lo tke security of a horse's going along safe on our roads, whatever it might 

 do on theirs; but thair system of punching and nailing is altogether so excel- 

 lent as to deserve imitation more extensively than it has hitherto been honour- 

 ed with, and is described with due discrimination lower down. The horn at 

 the toe would of course be made of a fit shape to receive such a form of shoe 

 as the French ; and I have reason to believe that it affects the toe of the cof- 

 fin-bone in process of time, which also becomes curved upwards, precisely 

 after the form thus factitiously given to the horn, and doubtless gave rise to 

 the discrepant representations adverted to at page 16G. 



On finishing off fine work, let the inside of the edge or rim of the hinder 

 shoes be well bevelled off towards the ground, and rounded, to prevent the 

 possibility of coming in contact with the fore foot: with horses that are apt t(j 

 forge, the necessity of keeping the fore-shoe heel short, so that it may not 

 project beyond the natural heel, should never be lost sight of. So, of the in- 

 side of the fore shoes to prevent cutting : let these also be filed off, sloping, to- 

 wards the ground, though not so far as the heels. 



An improved form of shoe, preferable to both the foregoing, has been re- 

 cently introduced, whicli is an assimilation of the French and English shoes. 

 Instead of adhering to the old practice of fullering the ground surface of the 

 common English shoe, to admit of punching the nail holes therein, it is the 

 improved practice to hollow that surface, and leave a shoulder towards the 

 outer rim as a protection to the nail heads. This is performed by a tool re- 

 sembling the head of a hammer, one face whereof is well represented by the 

 aimexecl figure ; the lower part at (a) being placed on the work, as is b 

 usual in fullering, but nearly a quarter of an inch from the edge; the /"■ 

 hammer is ap|)lied at (6), which leaves at (a) the desired shoulder, and \J 

 along that surface so far as nailing is necessary, a hollowness equal to a. 

 the inner slope of the tool. This hollow is not in fact any more than a wider 

 fuller, extending the width of the shoe, excepting the width of the rim left at 

 the outer edge ; though some do further prolong the hollowing all round the 

 toe, and to within half an inch of the heel, whereby they leave a slight caulk- 

 ing that never incommodes the animal, but which may be increased in quan- 

 tity and hardness towards winter. The operation of hollowing the ground 

 surface just described, produces a slight convexity upon the foot surface three- 

 fourths of the shoe's width, leaving the outer fourth still flat to receive the 

 bearing of the horn. Hereby the distance between the sole and the inner 

 rim is increased, and is moreover less likely to retain stones, gravel, or tilth, 

 than is the usual flat surfaced shoe, and possesses all the advantages of the 

 seated shoe of old Osmer, that has been claimed by some of our moderns. 

 Moorcroft took great pains to recommend the seated shoe, but finding some 

 difficulty in getting them manufactured, he set up a machine for puncturing 

 out the hollows, that quite failed of success, because the power employed was 

 only equal to cutting soft iron, and this was found inadequate to the required 

 wear, we are told. Why he did not subsequently harden, or " steel" the toe 

 and heels, seem surprising. 



Healthy feet are those alone which I have kept in view hitherto ; the bar- 

 shoe, concave and seated shoes being contrivances for ill-formed and diseased 

 feet, req'ire separate notice. 



Objec.lons have certainly been raised against this mode of forming shoes, 

 that seem plausible enough at first glance: not so fast, however; for upon cool 

 examination they vanish. The objectors aver, that because we can not im- 

 part the desired freedom of expansion to the whole of the foot, forsooth, we 

 are not to allow it at any part : if we can not get all we want, we are to reject 

 whut is within our reach. One >f these, who is likewise the last, tells us, 



