SHOEING. 643 



to the use of tips, or thin-heeled shoes, and desiring to make this 

 explanation as clear and reliable as possible, I requested Dr. Ham- 

 ill and Dr. McLellan, the two best veterinary authorities on 

 this subject in this country, to give me a statement of the cases 

 for which, in their judgment, tips would or would not be adapted. 

 I give herewith the reply of each, and invite the attention of the 

 reader to the points made, and the reasons given therefor. Prof. 

 Hamill savs: — 



" 111 shoeing the horse's foot, the question of frog pressure is a 

 debatable one, owing principally to a universal but mistaken belief 

 in uniformity in horses' feet. Every innovation in shoeing for the 

 past hundred years lias been Avrecked on this point, — uniformity. 

 No two horses' feet are alike ; no two feet of the same horse are 

 alike. This may sound strange to most people, but it is a fact, that 

 they are no more alike than human faces are alike. And why 

 should the (so-called) students of the foot insist on treating all 

 horses' feet in the same manner, and with the same shoe ? 



" Now while 1 am a firm advocate of frog and sole pressure, and 

 have driven my own horses for years over the pavements of New 

 York City, with nothing on the feet but what is known as the 

 English tip or toe-piece shoe, which gives the foot the entire free- 

 dom of all its natural movements, yet 1 must say it would be absurd 

 to attempt to shoe every horse in this way. There are any number 

 of cases where this system would be injurious to the foot and even 

 to the limb. But as the foot, or rather that part of it inclosed 

 within the hoof, is the object oftenest under consideration, I shall 

 explain briefly how it may suff'er from extreme frog pressure. 

 (One point which we should always keep in view is a due propor- 

 tion, or equal distribution of the weight in all parts of the hoof, 

 and by no other system can the foot be healthy.) 



"• Any foot that is thin in its general structure, but more so in 

 its vertical position, or from top to bottom, and with the frog full 

 at its pja-amidal eminence or body, is not a proper foot for frog 

 pressure. In such feet the plantar cushion, or what is known as 

 the fibrous or fatty frog, is very thin, is easily made weaker by 

 absorption through extreme pressure or irritation on the horny 

 frog, and therefore offers very little protection to the great flexor 

 tendon where is passes under the navicular bone. 



" But I may be asked, How could this in any way cause injury, 

 if the navicular joint be perfect, as the tendon requii-es only a 

 slight cushion underneath ? My answer is, that there is a double 

 impingement of the tendon, owing to the navicular bone descending 

 on the tendon every time weight is thrown on the limb, the proof 

 of which is the pain caused by this action on the internal structures 

 of the hoof I ask. Where is the shoeing-smith who has not seen 

 the agony of a horse while standing on one bare foot on the level 

 floor while the other foot is being shod, and the relief which followed 



