164 HORSE-SHOEING. 



state, or in the unmutilated foot, this is a particularly strong 

 portion of the hoof, and serves a very useful purpose, its utility 

 being mainly owing to its strength. From its preventing con- 

 traction of the heels, it has been named the arc boutant or " but- 

 tress " of the foot by the French hippotomists. 



When it is hacked away by the farrier's knife, the wall of the 

 hoof is not only considerably weakened, but the hoof gradually 

 contracts toward the heels. 



Horse dealers and grooms are the chief patrons of " well- 

 opened " heels, as they give the foot a false appearance by mak- 

 ing it look wider in this region. 



The fashion of paring the sole until it yields to the pressure of 

 the thumb has been perpetuated through the ignorance of those 

 who have had the management of horses, or the traditions and 

 routine of the artisans who have more especially to attend to the 

 requirements of the hoofs of these animals. But it must be ob- 

 served that this paring, slicing away the frog and opening up the 

 heels has been largely due, in later times, to the false notions 

 propounded by some writers regarding the functions of the foot : 

 such as the descent of the sole, the inability of the frog to sustain 

 contact with the ground, and the expansion of the back parts of 

 the hoof every time the weight was imposed upon it. It is scarcely 

 necessary here to say more than that these notions are at least 

 extremely exaggerated, and that the practices which were main- 

 tained to facilitate these supposed functions have been productive 

 of an immense amount of suffering and loss of animal life. 



It should be ever most strenuously insisted upon that the whole 

 lower face of the hoof, except the border of the wall, must be left 

 in a state of nature. The horn of the sole, frog and bars has an 

 important duty to fulfill 5 it is the natural protection to this part 

 of the hoof, and no protection of iron, leather or other material 

 is half so efficacious 3 in addition, it is a capital agent in sus- 



