SPEEDY CUTTING. 161 



impossible to see the exact manner speedy cutting occurs, 

 for, as it happens in the fast gallop, the eye cannot follow 

 the action of the horse ; it can only occur, however, at a 

 moment when the hit leg is on the ground, while the other 

 is -in the air ; for were it otherwise, no system of shoeing 

 could diminish the liability of a horse to speedy cutting ; 

 because the method of shoeing can only affect the position 

 of the leg when it is actually on the ground, for the 

 moment it is raised, the effect of the shoeing, in lessen- 

 ing its liability to be struck by other leg, must be inert. 

 This is evident when we consider that, by keeping the 

 inside quarter of the hoof higher than the outside, we 

 can generally prevent a horse, that turns his toes out, 

 from getting cut on that leg, as the direct action of this 

 arrangement is to counteract the " dish" of the pastern, 

 and thereby to remove the knee from the line of the 

 stroke of the other leg. If the hoof will allow of it, is 

 always better to alter the level by rasping down the 

 crust and sole on which the outside half of the shoe 

 will rest, than by using a shoe of which the inside half 

 is thicker than the outside half. 



This system of shoeing horses, that turn out their 

 toes, will also, generally, prevent them from " brushing." 



If we carefully observe the action of the forelegs of 

 the horse in the canter, we will see that the leg, which 

 is not leading, comes first on the ground in advance of 

 the other, and immediately afterwards the hoof of the 

 latter passes by the cannon bone of the non-leading leg 

 (which at that moment is on the ground) in front of 

 whose hoof it is placed, though of course in its own 

 line of progression. It is evident that, if speedy cutting 



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