SHOEING. 



695 



with hoof hniments, enabled growing the wall down several times 

 without resplitting. Finally, during a severe freezing spell, when 

 the roads were rough and hard, the quarter was split very seri- 

 ously, which, on account of the thin condition of the hoof, it 

 became impossible to grow down again without its splitting 

 back. All palliative measures 

 failing, it became necessary to 

 either control the quarter while 

 growing, or in consequence of the 

 serious lameness the injury 

 caused him, to take the horse off 

 the road. This was not admissi- 

 ble, as he could not be spared, and 

 to prevent this I was compelled to 

 devise some means of treatment 

 by which this could be remedied. 

 I noticed first that the whole 

 trouble arose from the quarter 

 being too small, or pressing too 

 much upon the internal structure, 

 and it occurred to me to open 

 out the quarter and hold it there. 

 The experiment was made, fit- 

 ting the shoe with a clip, and it worked perfectly. The horse 

 was driven as usual, over the hardest roads, during the balance 

 of the winter ; yet the hoof grew down, not only sound but 

 stronger than it was before. The incident suggested the idea of 

 fitting a shoe in this way for the cure of contraction ; and for the 

 convenience of opening either quarter as desired, the spreaders 

 were devised, which enabled doing this most perfectly. 



Corns. 



Corns are usually to be found at the inner heel, or at the 

 angle between the bar and the crust, and are caused by the shoe 

 pressing upon the part. This will be most likely to occur should 

 the wall break down, or be cut away so much as to let the sho;- 

 rest upon the sole, or should the shoe be nailed wc^l back on the 

 outside and toe, as then, if left on too long, it will be drawn out- 

 ward and forward so much that the inner heel will be drawn 



Fig. 536. — Form of shoe for 

 quarter-crack. 



