TIPS. 277 



six nails, three on either side, lut never put a nail haclc 

 of the yytdei^t part of the hoof — the quarters — thus 

 leaving the heels free. 



The foot should be so trimmed that the frog will 

 lights touch the ground, but take little or no weigh ^. 

 It is one function of the frog to keep the heels open 

 and healthy ; if it become wholly inactive, it, as a noted 

 writer puts it, "melts away and allows the heels to 

 come together." On the other hand, I do not believe it 

 can, in track work, take any considerable weight without 

 injurious results ensuing. In the natural state the frog 

 was, beyond dispute, intended to bear a considerable 

 amount of pressure, to break the shock of concussion 

 on the wall, but I am not prepared to believe that it is 

 equal to the emergency of standing any appreciable 

 share of the shock in hard track work. 



As to the substitution of tips for shoes I will say 

 that on some soils and on some feet they may be used 

 to advantage. But my experience has been that they 

 are not suitable as a rule for track-work. I have given 

 them a very fair trial, and have found that at least on 

 our gravelly soil they fail to sufficiently protect the 

 /eet of horses in training. The tip, as all know, is a 

 plate extending around the toe from quarter to quarter 

 and set in or inlaid in the wall flush with the ground 

 surface of the rear part of the hoof. I found that the 

 hoof behind the tip Avore away so much faster than 

 the tip that soon all the pressure came on the toe, the 

 level of the ground surface being destroyed, and 

 eventually the toe, as a natural consequence, turned 

 up. To reset the tip often enough to preserve the 

 level would soon necessitate cutting up into the sensi- 



