THE FOOT. 



331 



Fig. 120. 



the anterior members ; the sole of the posterior supports less weight 

 and is always more concave. 



Foot with High Heels. — This conformation (Fig. 120), com- 

 mon in some horses in meridional France (also in the so-called Arabian 

 horses), does not result, as might be believed, from an excessive height 

 of the wall at the heels. The sole here is hollow and the frog elevated 

 from the ground. The pastern, from the fact of this 

 bad direction of the foot, becomes straight, renders 

 the animal straight-jointed, and displaces most of the 

 weight on the toe. Many horses are high-heeled from 

 the neglect of the farrier to lower the heels before 

 resetting the shoe, and hence in the long run they be- 

 come hoof-bound. Such cases are not difficult to 

 remedy ; it suffices to pare off the heels regularly and give them a 

 proper height. If the defect is congenital, we must content ourselves 

 with the foot such as it is, and only endeavor to prevent the increase 

 of the defect in the shoeing, by employing a shoe thin at the heels. 



Foot with Low Heels. — This form of the foot (Fig. 121) is 

 open to objections of an inverse order. The weight of the body bears 

 upon the heels, which, ordinarily weak and sensi- 

 tive, are thus easily bruised and contused. There 

 results, besides, a more marked inclination of the 

 pastern, which fatigues the tendons, and this so 

 much more as the toe is longer and the horse 

 longer-jointed. The shoeing, in this case, should 

 aim at restoring the foot to its normal axis and, 

 at the same time, protect the posterior part of the heels. It is with 

 this object in view that we recommend a semi-covered wide-heeled shoe ; 

 nor should the heel ever be thickened, as is the usual tendency to 

 recommend. It is better to raise the heels by interposing between 

 them and the shoe one or two thicknesses of leather, of India-rubber, 

 or again, by the application of the English patents ; in a word, of 

 elastic pads incapable of producing contusions. If the frog is well 

 developed, it will be judicious to alternate the covered-heel shoe with 

 the bar shoe. 



Foot with Sloping Heels. — The heels in this conformation 

 are much inclined forward and acquire an abnormal length, a disposi- 

 tion which leads to all the evil results of a low- and long-jointed 

 pastern. 



The indication, therefore, is to shorten the foot over its whole area, 

 particularly towards the toe and the mammae. Precaution in paring it 



Fig. 121. 



