^20 ON SHOEING. 



mouth after montli, untU the elasticity of the sole is destroyed, and it can 

 no longer descend, and its other fnnctions are impeded, and foundation is 

 laid lor corn, and contraction, and inflammation, and navicular disease 

 ihat portion of horn should be left on the foot which MdU defend the in- 

 ternal parts from being bruised, and yet suffer the external sole to descend 

 Mow IS this to be ascertained? The strong pressure of the thumb of the 

 smith wiU be the best guide. The buttress, that most destructive of all 

 mstruments, bemg, except on very particular occasions, banished from 

 every respectable forge, the smith sets to work with his drawino-.knife and 

 removes the growth of horn, until the sole ^yill yield, although iil the 

 slightest possible degree, to the strong pressure of his thumb. The proper 

 thickness of horn will then remain. 



If the foot has been previously neglected, and the horn is become very 

 hard, the owner must not object if the smith resorts to some other means 

 to soften it a little, and takes one of his flat irons, and havino- heated it 

 draws it over the sole, and keeps it, a little while, in contact with the foot' 

 When the sole is really thick, this rude and apparently barbarous method 

 can do no harm, but it should never be permitted with the sole that is 

 regularly pared out. 



The quantity of horn to be removed in order to leave the proper degree 

 of thiclmess will vary with different feet. Prom the strong foot a o-reat 

 deal must be taken. From the concave foot the horn may be rem^oved 

 until the sole will yield to a moderate pressure. From the flat foot Kttle 

 needs to be pared ; while the pumiced foot should be deprived of nothino- 

 but the ragged parts. ® 



The paring being nearly completed, the knife and the rasp of the smith 

 must be a httle watched, or he will reduce the crust to a level with the 

 sole, and thus endanger the bruising of it by its pressure on the edge of 

 the seating. The crust should be reduced to a perfect level, all round, but 

 left a little higher than the sole. 



The heels will require considerable attention. From the sti-ess which is 

 thrown on the inner heel, and from the weakness of the quarter there, the 

 horn usually wears away considerably faster than it would on the outer 

 one, and if an equal portion of horn were 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 

 leave them precisely level. 



If the reader will recollect what has been said of the intention and 

 action of the bars, he will readily perceive that the smith should be checked 

 in his almost universal fondness for opening the heels, or, more truly, 

 removing that which is the main impediment to contraction. The portion 

 of the heels between the inflexion of the bar and the frog should scarcely 

 be touched— at least the ragged and detached parts alone should be cut 

 away. The foot may not look so fail- and open, but it wiU last lono-er 

 wdthout contraction. ^ 



The bar, likewise, should be left fully prominent, not only at its first 

 inflexion, 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 encouraged ; and it should be scarcely touched when the horse 

 is shod, unless it has attained a level with the crust. The reader will 

 recoUect the observation which has been already made, that the destruction 

 of the bars not only leads to contraction by removing the grand impedi- 

 ment to it, but by adding a still more powerful cause in the slanting 

 direction which is given to the bearing at the heels, when the bar does nol 

 contribute to the support of the weight. 



