310 



DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



bottom of the hoof, by paring away the horn at the toe and 



the lieel, until it is brought to the form 

 represented in the diagram, and then 

 forcje a shoe of a similar form. I have 

 given the outline view of the hoof, with 

 a shoe attached to it, copied from jM. 

 Janze's view of a perfectly shod foot. The 

 question then, Avith regard to the French 



T,. „ , n , z. / ,1 shoeino;, is, whether it is conformable or 



I'lg. 3. A Foot shod on the o' ' i • i t") 



French System, showing the not to the fundamental law winch iiour- 

 cievation at the toe and heel, gclat, thc great fouudcr of Veterinary 



"the nails!" ""''""^ «/'^'''^''*^ schools, has^laid doWU. 



An outline view of a hoof shod in 

 the French manner is given In fig. 3. : fig. 2. is the French 

 shoe. Bourgelat directs that this curvature, or boat-like form, 

 in the shoe, should be in thc following proportion : — 



The curvature in the branch, or side of the shoe, is to begin 

 at the second nail-hole from the heel ; and the curvature is to 

 be such, that the toe of the shoe should be raised above the 

 bearing part (that is, the lowest part, which is to bear on thc 

 ground), a distance equal to twice the thickness of the shoe, and 

 that from the bearing part to the heel the shoe should gradually 

 rise so that at the extremity it is raised from the ground a 

 distance equal to half the thickness of the shoe.* Thus ac- 

 cording to the French method, as a well-shod horse stands on 

 the ground the feet have only a partial bearing. M. Janze, who 

 has published a large quarto volume on shoeing, with numerous 

 plates, diifers a little from M. Bourgelat with respect to the 

 degree of curvature, or the ajusture of the shoe, as they term it, 

 but not materially ; but both direct the shoe to be made concave, 

 or hollow, on that surface which is in contact with the bottom 

 of the foot, and convex, or projecting, on the surface which rests 

 on the ground, so that they resemble one half of a walnut-shell, 

 with a hole cut in the centre, for they make the shoe very wide, 

 so as to cover a great deal of the bottom of the foot. 



Mr. Goodwin, in his new system of shoeing, gives an ex- 

 planation of the advantages arising from the curved, or French 

 shoe. " If we refer," he says, " to the action of the fore leg, it 

 will tend to explain some of the advantages to be derived from 

 the curved shoe. When a horse is about to move, the first in- 

 dication of motion Is a bend at the knee, which necessarily raises 

 the heels, and they become more and more elevated, till the toe 

 (which is the last part that leaves the ground) is suspended for 

 the moment that the foot is lifted. The base of the foot, just at 

 its leaving the ground, is almost perpendicular : when the knee 



* The convexity of tbc under surface of the shoe is equal to one and a 

 half thnes its thickness. 



