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CHAPTER XXX. 



THE FEET, DENTITION, AND DESTRUC- 

 TION OF HORSES. 



No more artificial dresssng should be done to the 

 feet of horses than is absolutely necessary in the way 

 of rasping-, cutting-, and burning. A number of black- 

 smiths, in fitting a shoe, will cut and burn the foot 

 alternately until a mere shell of the sole is left. No 

 harm is done by applying- a hot shoe to the foot in 

 moderation, as a more accurate bed for the shoe can 

 be obtained in this than in any other way. The wall 

 of the hoof should be well cut away at the toe, as the 

 tendency of the horny wall of the foot is to grow in 

 that direction, but the knife should never be applied 

 to the sole or frog of the foot at all, unless merely to 

 remove any ragged portions that may be partially 

 detached. When a shoe is properly fitted the frog- of 

 the foot should touch the ground on a level with the 

 shoe. In this way the frog acts, naturally, as a.kind of 

 buffer in reducing- concussion on the ground. Nature 

 generally does her own work in reducing the sole and 

 frog- by casting off scales occasionally, so that the 

 artificial assistance of the blacksmith's knife in the 



