PARING THE FOOT. 227 



raise all tlie clincLcs of tlie nails to prevent injury to the 

 crust, and to avoid giving pain to tlie horse ; even after 

 clinches are raised, if the shoe cannot be easily drawn off, 

 those nails which seem to hold most firmly should be 

 punched, or drawn out, that the shoe may be removed 

 without injury to the hoof, and without weakening the 

 nail hold for the new shoeing. 



The shoe being removed, the edge of the crust should be 

 well rasped to remove so much of the horn as would have 

 been worn away by contact with the ground, had it been un- 

 shod. In no case should the rasp be used on the surface of 

 the hoof, except to make the necessary depressions for the 

 clinches, after the new shoe has been put on, and to shape 

 the hoof helow the line of the clinches of the nails. The 

 hoof, above this line, will inevitably be injured by such 

 treatment, which is one of the m6st fertile sources of brit- 

 tleness of the horn, which often results in "sand crack." 



The operation of paring out the horse's foot is a matter 

 requiring both skill and judgment, and is, moreover, a 

 work of some labor, when properly performed. It will 

 be found that the operator errs much oftener by removing 

 too little than too much ; at least it is so with the parts 

 vdiich ought to be removed, whicli are almost as hard and 

 unyielding as a flint, and, in their most favorable state, re- 

 quire considerable exertion to cut through. 



It would bo impossible to frame any rule applicable to 

 paring out of all horses' feet, or, indeed, of the feet of the 

 same horse at all times : for instance, it is manifestly un- 

 wise to pare the sole as thin in a hot, dry season, when the 

 roads are broken up, and strewed with loose stones, as in 

 a moderately wet one, when they are well bound and even ; 

 for, in the former case, the sole is in perpetual danger of 

 being bruised by violent contact with the loose stones, 

 and consequently needs a thicker layer of horn for its 



