HORSE-SHOEING. 151 



The ground surface of the foot should be directly transverse 

 to the direction of the pastern, and it is in maintaining or 

 restoring this relation, that care and skill are required. If the 

 pastern is perpendicular to the shank-bone, and the two sides of the 

 lower margin of the foot are directly transverse to the line passing 

 down from these, then the wall has only to be lowered equally on 

 both sides, if it be too high. 



It must be remembered, in levelling both sides of the lower sur- 

 face of the hoof, that the difference of a few fractions of an inch 

 between them will cause considerable, and perhaps very hurtful, 

 oscillations of the weight thrown on the limb. 



A properly-instructed farrier should be able, at a glance across the 

 upturned foot, to discover whether it is tolerably level. In Fig. 7 I 

 have shown what is meant by a properly -levelled hoof, the dotted line 



Fig. 7. 



a a being directly transverse to the vertical line b, and the distance 

 from a to c of one side being equal to that from a to c of the other. 



Shortening the Wall.— Reducing the wall to proper dimensions 

 is another important matter in connection with the preparation of 

 the foot for the shoe. We have seen that the natural and moderate 

 wear of the unshod hoof is compensated for by the incessant down- 

 ward growth of the horn, and that this process of wear and regene- 

 ration maintains the proper dimensions and just bearing of the foot. 

 But on the application of the shoe a barrier is at once opposed to 

 the wear, while the growth is not interfered with ; consequently, the 



