SHOEING AND THE MANAGEMENT OF THE FEET. 313 



and the frog may bear on the ground. Very little cover or 

 width is permitted, because the sole, the frog, and the heels are 

 never to be pared, being with this shoe exposed to the pressure 

 and friction of the ground, which is sufficient to wear away 

 whatever is superfluous. There is something in this shoe which 

 strongly recommends it to every one who studies the structure 

 and economy of the horse's foot ; yet it has not been found to 

 answer in general pi'actice. Our worthy and truly eminent 

 Professor, Mr. Coleman, was struck with the merit of this shoe, 

 and thought he had succeeded in obviating the only incon- 

 venience that belonsfed to it, which was leavina; the heels un- 

 covered, and thereby exposing them, especially in wet weather, 

 to more wear than they could bear. lie, like Lafosse, strongly 

 pointed out the necessity of applying it to the healthy foot only ; 

 and went still farther in showing the danger of applying it 

 suddenly, and without suitable precautions, to the foot of a horse 

 accustomed to wear thick-heeled shoes. He considered some 

 degree of bearing on the frog necessary to the health of the foot, 

 and that it serves also as a spring, and as a stop, to the animal 

 in his various motions. He found, however, that by leaving the 

 heels imcovered they were often worn down too much, especially 

 in wet weather ; therefore he extended the ix'on covering, or 

 shoe, to the whole of the crust, that is, from the toe to the 

 heels. 



Mr. Coleman's tliin-heeled shoe, as It was termed, was flat on 

 the foot surface, and concave on the ground surfoce. If the 

 sole was not concave, or hollow enough to admit of a flat shoe 

 of moderate width resting on it, it was pared out sufficientlv 

 with the drawing knife ; and if the sole was too thin to allow of 

 this being done, the foot surface of the shoe was made concave, 

 and the ground surface flat. The shoe was made of the usual, 

 that is, of a moderate thickness at the toe, and became gradually 

 thinner towards the heels, and in such a degree, that the toe 

 Avas three times thicker than the heels. The principal pre- 

 caution to be observed in applying this shoe was to pare away 

 from the toe of the hoof as much as would make up the dif- 

 ference between the thickness of the toe and the heel of the 

 shoe, and thereby prevent too much pressure upon the great 

 tendon of the foot and navicular joint; and if the heels of the hoof 

 were unusually high, so as to raise the frog considerably from 

 the ground, they were to be lowered very gradually, removing 

 only a small portion of the horn at each time of shoeing, until 

 the froEi; had a bearins: on the crround. 



This shoe Avas tried in the army, and found frequently to 

 occasion lameness. The principal trial was made in the Koyal 

 Artillery, and I had an opportunity of witnessing the effect of it 

 at two different periods. About twenty-three years since, when 



