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pared from it, it would be left lower than the outer 

 heel. The smith should, therefore, accommodate his 

 paring to the comparative wear of the heels, and be 

 exceedingly careful to have them precisely level. 

 The position of the heels between the inflection of 

 the bar and the frog should scarcely be touched — at 

 best the ragged and detached parts alone should be 

 cut away. The foot may not look so fair and open, 

 but will last longer without contraction. The bar 

 likewise, should be left fully prominent (never allow 

 the smith to cut away the bar or frog of the foot), not 

 only at its first inflection, but as it runs down the 

 side of the frog. The heel of the shoe is designed 

 to rest partly on the heel of the foot, and partly on 

 the bar, for reasons that have been already stated. 

 If the bar is weak, the growth .of it should be encour- 

 aged, and it should be scarcely touched when the 

 horse is shod, unless it has attained a level with the 

 crust. It has been argued by many that the horn 

 between the crust and the bar should be carefully 

 pared out, and by so doing give relief to the ani- 

 mal lame with corns. If a little spring is given to 

 the heel of the shoe, it gives relief; also the practice 

 of weakening the crust of the foot where it is so 

 much needed. 



I will give you some idea of the young and 

 healthy foot. Approaching nearly to a circle, and 

 of which the quarters form the widest part, being 

 just as wide as it is long. But I am sorry to say 

 that this shape is not long preserved in many horses ; 



