THE HORSE'S FOOT: SHOEING, ETC. 105 



allow a horse to go three or four months without being re-shod, by 

 which time the feet are so overgrown and in such a state that it 

 takes months to get them into form again. It would be much better 

 to take the shoes off altogether, and then the foot, with use, would 

 naturally wear away. Shoes are best removed once every four 

 or six weeks, and should never, on any account, be allowed to remain 

 longer than two months. 



181. Fitting the Shoe.— Before the shoe is fitted the foot, in 

 many cases, requires a certain amount of trimming ; this should be 

 done with care and judgment. Then the shoe should be made to 

 fit level, and be a shade larger than the foot at the ground surface, 

 continuing the angle of inclination of the wall of the hoof. As 

 already said, it must not be applied too hot — just hot enough to 

 make itself a firm bed ; neither must it be nailed to fit, as this tears 

 the hoof. 



182. Nails and Nail- Holes.— The fewer nails there are in the 

 shoe the better— but, as a rule, four nails are put on the outside and 

 three on the inside ; more are used at times, but if the shoe is 

 efficiently fitted, even a less number may be sufficient. The nail- 

 holes, whether punched through the racing or fullering, or stamped, 

 are, as a rule, made so that the nails, when driven, have a decided 

 inward bearing {Plate XIV., Nos. 7, 2, and J), particularly at the 

 toe so as to keep in line with the angle of the hoof, while the quarter 

 and heel nails are more nearly vertical. When the holes are made 

 too oblique, the nails are apt to break off at the neck. Some feet, 

 however, are so constituted that the shoe has to be nailed round the 

 toe instead of the quarter. In driving the nail, care should be taken 

 not to get into the sensitive parts, nor to get so near as to press on 

 them. This shows how necessary it is to fit the shoe properly, and, 

 also, to make the nail-holes at proper angles. After the shoe has 

 been attached, in dressing the hoof, some smiths persist in rasping 

 the walls — ' to make them look nice,' they say. To my eye, nothing 

 looks worse than a rasped hoof. By the use of the rasp, not only is 

 the outer covering, periople, or varnish-like structure of the hoof, 

 destroyed, but some hundreds of the little fibrous tubes which are 



