284 THE HORSE. 



too many smiths to cut them perfectly away. They imagine that that 

 gives a more open appearance to the heels of the horse, — a seeming 

 width, which may impose upon the unwary. Horses shod for the purpose 

 of sale have usually the bars removed with this view ; and the smiths in 

 the neighbourhood of the metropolis aud large towns, shoeing for dealers, 

 too often habitually pursue, with regard to all their customers, the injurious 

 practice of removing the bars. The horny frog, deprived of its guard, 

 will speedily contract, and become elevated and thrushy ; and the whole of 

 the heel, deprived of the power of resilience or re-action, which the curve 

 between the bar c and the crust d affords, will speedily fall in. Therefore, 

 when treating of shoeing, we shall lay it down as a golden rule, that the 

 bars should be left prominent, and we shall shew why it is of essential 

 importance that the shoe should rest on the angle formed by the crust and 

 the bar. 



THE FROG. 



In the space between the bars, and accurately filling it, is the frog. It 

 is a triangular portion of horn, projecting from the sole, almost on a level 

 with the crust, and covering and defending a soft and elastic substance 

 called the sensible frog. It is wide at the heels, and there extending above 

 a portion of the crust ; narrowing rapidly when it begins to be confined 

 between the bars, and terminating at a point at somewhat more than half 

 the distance from the heel to the toe. It consists of two rounded or pro- 

 jecting surfaces, with a fissure or cleft between them, reaching half way 

 down the frog, and the two portions again uniting to form the point or 

 toe of the frog. The frog is firmly united to the sole, but it is perfectly 

 distinct from it. It is of a different nature, being softer, and far more 

 elastic ; and it is secreted from a different surface, for it is thrown out 

 from the substance which it covers. Without entering into many of 

 the questions which have been agitated, with far too much warmth 

 among veterinarians, as to the uses of the frog, it is sufficient to refer to 

 our cut, and consider the form and situation of this part. It very much 

 resembles a wedge with the sharp point forwards ; and it is placed towards 

 the back part of the foot. The foot is seldom put flush and flat upon the 

 ground, but in a direction downwards, yet somewhat forwards ; then the frog 

 evidently gives safety to the tread of the animal, for it, in a manner, 

 ploughs itself into the ground, and prevents the horse from slipping. 

 This is of considerable consequence, when we remember some of the 

 paces of the horse, in which his heels evidently come first to the ground, 

 and in which the danger from slipping would be very great. We need 

 only refer to the gallop of speed as illustrative of this. 



The frog being placed at, and filling the hinder part of the foot, 

 discharges a part of the duty sustained by the crust ; for it sup]3orts the 

 weight of the animal. It assists, likewise, and that to a material degree, 

 in the expansion of the foot. It is formed internally of two promi- 

 nences on the sides (see a, p. 283), and a cleft in the centre, presenting two 

 concavities with a sharp projection in the middle, and a gradually rounded 

 one on each side. It is also composed of a substance peculiarly flexible and 

 elastic. What can be so well adapted for the expansion of the foot, when 

 a portion of the weight of the body is thrown on it? How easily will 

 these irregular surfaces yield, and spread out, and how readily return again 

 to their natural state? in this view, therelbre, the horny frog is a powerful 

 agent in opening the foot ; and the diminution of the substance of the 

 frog, and its elevation above the ground, are both the cause and the con- 



