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CHAPTER XXVII, 



HORSE-SHOES AND SHOEING. 



The Horse's Foot — Modem Improvements in Shoeing and in Horse-shoes. 



Horses are shod to protect the horn of the hoofs from spHtting, and the friction of constant 

 work on hard roads. Repeated attempts have been made to dispense with metal shoes, the 

 latest, in France, by Thomas Jennings, trainer of race-horses. There is no doubt that here 

 and there a horse may be found with hoofs so tough that they will resist the friction of turf or soft 

 roads, but the exceptions are so rare that they are not worth considering. About the year 

 1848 I saw at Frankfort a grey stallion, the property of the landlord of the "Two Swans," 

 which had never been shod. He was a half-bred Arab from the stud of the King of Wurtemburg, 

 about fifteen and a half hands high, and was ridden by his master as an officer of the Burgher 

 Guard on Sundays, and only exercised on other days at a foot pace. I examined his feet, 

 which were kept in shape by the occasional application of the knife and rasp. They were 

 the most perfect I ever handled, and tough as gutta-percha. It must never be forgotten by 

 the horse-owner that the hoof, like the human nail, grows daily, and if not abused will replace any 

 accidental fracture. 



Until very recently it was the opinion of many writers on the subject that the horse's foot was 

 to be improved by thinning the sole, cutting down the frog, and opening or dividing the " bars " 

 which unite the frog to the outer wall. (See coloured plate and description.) The opinion of 

 competent observers has, however, undergone a complete change, and it is generally admitted 

 that the less the interior of the horse's foot is meddled with, and the more completely the frog 

 touches the ground, the nearer is the perfection of a necessary evil — shoeing — approached. 



The following summary has been taken, by permission, from Mr. George Fleming's last 

 work : — * 



" The foot without the shoe should stand perfectly level and at the right angle as regards 

 the fitting of the leg into the hoof Both sides of the hoof should be of equal depth ; no 

 deviation of the hoof to the inside or outside should be permitted. The ground face of the 

 hoof must be equal from toe to heel, and justly proportioned in depth from toe to heel. The 

 heels should very rarely be interfered with. At the toe there is nearly always an excess of 

 growth, but no absolute rule can be laid down as to the angle to which the hoof should be 

 brought. The practical eye can discern at once whether the angle is in conformity with the 

 natural bearing and direction of the limb, and there will be no difficulty in adjusting it provided 

 there is sufficient horn to spare- 



" After correcting the obliquity of the hoof the farrier generally proceeds to pare the sole, 

 an absurd and barbarous operation, which should on no account be permitted. In order to 



* " Practical Horseshoeing." By G. Fleming, Army Veterinary Inspector. 



