154 



HORSE-SHOEING. 



ease in progression are concerned in the operation. Excessive 

 length or obliquity of hoof strains back tendons and ligament ; a 

 hoof long at the toe and low at the heels (Fig. 9, a, b) increases 

 the obliquity ; on the contrary, when the heels are high and the 

 toe of the hoof too short (Fig. 9, c, d), the bones suffer and the 

 whole limb experiences, more or less, the effects of concussion. 



Fis 



In both cases progression is fatiguing, imperfect and hurtful 

 to au extent proportionate to the excess. 



Another disadvantage in shoeing, arising from the tendency of 

 the hoof to increase in length at the toe, and also from its form, 

 is the change in the position of the shoe itself. The hoof being 

 more or less conical in shape, with its base opposed to the ground,. 

 it follows that, as it increases in length, its lower circumference 

 also widens in every direction. The result is that the shoe, 

 although at one time accurately fitting the hoof, gradually 

 becomes too narrow ; at the same time, the increase in length at 

 the toe carries the iron plate forward, away from the heels. 



This is one more of the inevitable evils of shoeing, but which, 

 nevertheless, the skillful workman may greatly palliate. 



The farrier equalizes both sides of the hoof by applying his 

 rasp in a sloping direction to the ground border or end of the wall ; 

 he also brings it to its natural angle with the same instrument, by 



