118 



SHOEING. 



ME. BRACT CLARK'S JOINTED SHOS. 



Mr Bracy Clark once brought forward a jointed shoe, which was 

 intended to admit of expansion; and was offered to the public as a 

 radical cure for all the evils to which the foot of the horse was liable. 



The joint was placed at the toe, the shoe 

 being forged in two halves, which were 

 united by means of a rivet. The thing 

 was wrong in principle. The toe, which 

 nature intended should be fixed, was obliged 

 to move, before the heels could expand; 

 then, parts could not yield in different 

 degrees, but all must move at once, accord- 

 ing to the motion of the iron. It was soon 

 discovered to be terribly injurious, when 

 brought into use. The battering speedily 

 fixed the central rivet, and afterward wore 

 away the joint, leavmg the two halves disunited. A thing which turns 

 out defective, both in principle and in practice, merits that neglect into 

 which the jointed shoe has now fallen. 



Another mechanical ameliorator was termed the screw shoe. This 

 had two rivets — one on either side of the toe, 

 operating on two movable quarter pieces. The 

 sides, therefore, were capable of all motion, and, 

 being nailed to the quarters, were, by turning 

 the screw, to be forced outward. The screw 

 was situated under the frog, and was retained 

 in its position by a stout bar of iron connected 

 with the toe piece. Man, however, cannot treat 

 any portion of an organic frame as it were an 

 inorganic substance. He may tear flesh, but he 

 cannot stretch or strain living tissues according to his pleasure. More- 

 over, all outward secretions are regulated by the parts which they cover 

 and inclose. Thus, supposing a lad born with a diminutive head, the 

 cranium cannot be enlarged by any degree of force; but educate the 

 boy, exercise the intellect of the youth, and, with the greater develop- 

 ment of the brain, the bones of the head will sensibly expand. So it 

 must be with the heels of the horse's feet. These parts may become 

 rigid and wired in by the fixing power exercised by the nails of the 

 shoe. But remove the nails, allow the hoof that motion which is need- 

 ful to its health, and its internal structures may recover their lost func- 

 tions ; a gradual restoration to the normal shape may be the consequence 

 of strength regained by the internal organs. 



The veterinary mind was, however, slow to recognize so plain a rule. 



A SCREW SHOE. 



