88 



THE ART OF HORSE-SHOEING. 



the primary function of sustaining weight instead of, as 

 in nature, taking only a secondary share of such action. 

 It does this at the expense of a shoe placed so close to the 

 ''quick" that if the "upper and inner border of iron be 

 not bevelled off, immediate lameness results. When the 

 Charlier shoe was first introduced, it was applied the 

 full length of the foot, but it was found that when 

 thinned by wear, the heels spread and led to injury of 

 the opposite leg or to its being trodden off. Now the 



Fig. 65.— a Tip laid on, not let down. 



Charlier is only applied like a tip round the front portioa 

 of the surface of the foot, and it therefore partakes of 

 some of the advantages I have credited to tips. It is a 

 very light shoe and only requires small nails to fix it 

 securely, but as the shoe is only the width of the wall, 

 the nails have to be driven solely in the wall, and their 

 position is open to the objection applying to all too fine 

 nailing. The disadvantages of the Charlier are its being 

 "let down " too near the quick, its limited bearing, and 

 its fine nail holes; the advantages are the lightness and 

 the freedom given to the back of the foot, both of which 

 are attainable with a narrow tip not let down. One very 

 apparent effect resulting from the use of the Charlier 



