fiHOEING. 18S 



clinches, after the new shoe has been put on, and to shape the 

 hoof below the line of the clinches of the nails. The hoof, 

 above this line, will inevitably be injured by such treatment, 

 which is one of the most fruitful sources of brittleness of the 

 horn, which often results in "sand-crack." 



The operation of paring out the horse's foot is a matter re- 

 quiring both skill and judgment, and is, moreover, a work of 

 some labor, when properly performed. It will be found that 

 the operator errs much oftener by removing too Utile than 

 too much ; at least it is so with the parts which ought to be 

 removed, which are almost as hard and unyielding as flint, and 

 in their most favorable state, require considerable exertion to 

 cut through. 



No general rule can be given applicable to the paring out 

 of the feet of all horses, or even of the feet of the same horse 

 at all times. It would be evidently unwise, for example, to 

 pare the sole as thin in a hot, dry, season, when the roads are 

 broken up, and strewed with loose stones, as would be proper 

 in a moderately wet one, when the roads are well bound and 

 even ; for, in the case first named, the sole is in constant danger 

 of being bruised by violent contact with loose stones, and 

 therefore, needs a thicker layer of horn for its protection ; 

 while the latter case offers the most favorable surface that the 

 greater part of our horses ever have to travel upon, advantage 

 of which should be taken for a thorough paring out of the 

 sole, in order that the internal parts of the foot may derive the 

 full benefit accruing from an elastic and descending sole ; a 

 condition of things very essential to the due perrbrmance of 

 their separate functions. To take another illustration : horn 

 grows very freely, especially toward the toe in horses with 



