716 



SIIORIXG. 



Eug'lish Veterinary Profession in England, in liis work on Shoes 

 and Horse-shoeing, says: — 



" By dint of knife and rasp, the dimensions of the organ, the 

 foundation of the edifice, have been greatly reduced, and the animal 

 rests on a narrower basis. The sole has been carefullj'- denuded of 

 its protecting horn, iiiilil the thin ]telliele of newh' secreted material 



is ex])<)sed and readily yields to the 

 thumb. The frog is scientificalh' reduced 

 on every side, the heels or commissui-es 

 are Avell opened up, the bars are reduced 

 in sizie, and ftmtastically delineated, and 

 the portion of the crust between thera and 

 the seat of the coi'n — as carefully carved 

 out a la Miles. The plantar surface of 



Fig. .5(j3. — Foot exces.sivelj' 

 pared. 



avoid contact with the 

 plate is fastened on tlu' 



I lie foot altogether is much more concave 

 than it was previousl}', and it looks like a 

 inaster-piece of Avorkmanship. It may 

 present something like the shaj)e, when 

 prepared for the shoe, seen in Fig. 562. 

 '• A shoe is then fitted to the foot. In 

 all proVjability it is then too small ; it has 

 a Avide, flat ground surface, the foot sur- 

 face has a plane border on Avhich the crust 

 rests, and the remainder is beveled to 

 altnormally thin sole. When this metallic 

 hoof, and the horse once more rests on the 

 iimb, the foot has no lonii'er its natural bearini>;. The whole weio-ht 

 of the horse, as well as any other weight he may have to sustain 

 on his back, is borne by the crust of the foot alone. The frog is 

 elevated above the ground, and the sole dare not come near it. In 

 fact, the shoe has a very Avide surface or web to protect the sole of 

 the poor mutilated foot from the injury likely to be inflicted by 

 stones on the road, — injury that before shoeing could have been 

 resisted far better by nature's protection. 



" The shoe, as Ave have seen, Avas too small; or rather the farrier 

 imagined the plantar surface Avhich supported the Aveight and 

 strain so admirably in a natural condition, to be too large ; so 

 Avhen the metal plate has been securely attached, a large portion of 

 the hoof hangs over it — the best and strongest portion; and this 

 has to be removed with the rasp or toe-knife. The nails have been 

 driven to a certain height in the wall, and as their extremities must 

 be riveted or clinched, these clinches must not be disturbed. The 

 over-hanging crust between them and the shoe, however, is rasped 

 away, and the face of the foot presents a rounded or knobbed ap- 

 pearance, very unlike its natural outline. In all probability the 

 Avhole external surface up to the coronet is tastefully rasped and 

 polished, the warnish-like covering nature had spread over it is 

 carefully removed, and the fibres beneath are more or less damaged, 

 exposed to desiccation, and shrink; Avhile below the clinches they 



