OVERREACHING PALLIATED 325 



fevet-ish and unsound, and then may call in a veteri- 

 narian in time for him to be of some use in saving 

 the feet of a valuable horse. If the foot is neglected 

 until it becomes badly diseased, even the expert can- 

 not usually restore it to soundness. All that can be 

 expected of him is to palliate the trouble. 



Some horses overreach because of faulty form. 

 The front quarters of such horses may have something 

 of the draft conformation, while the hind quarters 

 approach the trotting -horse build. In other- words, 

 the front feet cannot get out of the way of the hind 

 ones, because of their hesitating motion, and the 

 long, quick reach of the hind feet. If, by a slightly 

 modified method of shoeing, the movement of the 

 fore feet can be hastened, and that of the hind 

 feet retarded by a fraction of a second, the over- 

 reach will be obviated. If the soles of the front 

 feet be lowered at the toes and the toes slightly 

 shortened, and the heels left rather high, the roll 

 of the foot and the time of the heel's leaving the 

 ground are hastened. On the other hand, if the heel 

 of the hind foot be kept rather low, and the toe 

 slightly longer and higher than the normal, the time of 

 the hind foot leaving the ground will be slightly 

 retarded. If, by reason of the lowered, shortened toe, 

 the time when the front foot leaves the ground be 

 hastened, and that of the hind foot retarded by reason 

 of the slightly higher and longer toe, the fraction of a 

 second needed to keep the hind foot from coming in 

 contact with the front one is secured. The blacksmith 

 usually reverses all this, shoves the front shoe forward 



