368 ON THE ART OF SHOEING. 



deftru&ive of all their manoeuvres, but always 

 let them be fhaved horizontally, or flat ; and it is 

 fo dangerous to cut too near in the frog, that 

 in cafe of a confiderable bulk in that part, it is 

 even better to thicken the {hoe-heels a trifle, 

 and fo to bring them and the frog upon a level 

 and even bearing. For a foot in a found and 

 natural flate, the breadth of the (hoe at the 

 heels, (hould be one-half of its breadth at the 

 toe, and its fubftance decreafe by degrees from 

 the toe, fo as to be one-half thinner or weaker 

 at the extremity of the heels ; notwithstanding 

 this decreafe of width at the heel of the (hoe, 

 it will be (till wide enough to ftand out fome- 

 what beyond the cruft, and thereby be pre- 

 vented from getting within the heel as it grows. 

 The form of the fhoe mud exactly correfpond 

 with the outline of the foot, and ever be made 

 thicken 1 externally at the rim, and gradually 

 thinner internally next the horfe's fole, a form 

 directly oppofite to the common concave fhoe ; 

 this will leave juft room enough (and there 

 ought to be no more) between the edge of the 

 (hoe and the fole, for the introduction of the 

 pecker, which is ufed to remove fmall (tones 

 and gravel accidentally lodged. Mr. Clarke 

 fays, he has frequently obferved a fwelling of 

 the legs immediately above the hoofs, attended 

 with great pain and inflammation, and a dif- 

 charge of thin ichorous and foetid matter, which 



he 



