SHOEING COLTS. 107 



taught to dress the foot with a rasp only. In our own 

 army the rules say, you must not, under any consideration, 

 touch the sole, the frog-, or the bars of the feet with a 

 knife. In the veterinary colleges (very few, 1 am sorry to 

 state, make any pretense of giving this all important 

 structure its due share of study) they also teach us 

 that by applying a knife to the sole, bars and frog of the 

 foot we rob it of its natural function and elasticity and its 

 natural moisture secreting qualities. 



If a foot is dressed perfectly flat and the frog and bars 

 are left in their natural state, the chances for concussion 

 are remote indeed. The foot lands upon the heels. The 

 frog, if in its natural state, breaks the concussion. There 

 is no further chance for concussion after the foot comes 

 in contact with the ground, for after it strikes the ground 

 031 the heels and frog the rest of the movement is simply 

 a continuation of a roll until the foot again leaves the 

 ground. 



Years ago, especially in the old countries, the Charlier 

 shoe (named, no doubt, after its inventor), or more often 

 a "tip" after the same pattern, was widely used. It was 

 made out of very narrow material and instead of being 

 nailed upon the wall of the foot, as is the custom now in 

 vogue, there Avas a groove cut out of the wall extending in 

 and up for about three-eighths of an inch, depending upon 

 the size and strength of the wall, and into this groove was 

 fitted the shoe, or plate. When the job was completed the 

 sole, frog and bars were left intact, in identically the same 

 manner as though the animal were bare-footed, the function 

 of the shoe being merely to prevent breakage of the wall. 



This shoe was and is successfully used on hunters and 

 jumpers. Our trotters have only their own weight to 

 carry and the concussion naturally depends greatly upon 

 the action of the animal. But when we take a hunter and 

 put a hundred and fifty pounds, or more, upon his back 

 and then ask him to take a four or flve-foot fence, it can 

 readily be seen that the possibilities for concussion are 

 greatly magnified, yet we hardly ever hear of one of this 

 kind being laid up on account of bruised feet. 



In England they have races for ponies that stand 

 fourteen hands high. Tn order not to exceed this heighth 

 it is often necessary to go to extremes in dressing the feet, 

 the wall, at times, being rasped considerably lower than 

 the sole, and then the thinnest possible piece of steel is 



