CHARACTERS OF SHOE — FORM. 133 



Aluminium copper can bo wrought at a red heat, but is just 

 as heavy as iron. 



Although aluminium resists the action of acids it is readily 

 attacked by alkalies, and even on chalky roads wears away very 

 quickly. 



Fhos]jlior bronze was used at Brussels in 1880. The shoes 

 are cast, must not be warmed, are softer than iron, and seem 

 to check slipping. The difficulty of fitting and want of dura- 

 bility are, however, against their extended use. 



2. Shoes and their Properties. 



A horse-shoe is an iron or steel rim fastened by nails to the 

 wall and covering the bearing surface of the hoof to a greater 

 or less extent. All ordinary shoes present two branches, an 

 inner and an outer. The anterior part, where both branches 

 unite, is termed the toe. The upper surface, upon which the 

 hoof rests, is termed the foot surface, the lower is the ground 

 surface. The fullering is on the ground surface, the seating 

 on the foot surface. Shoes are variously named, according to 

 the objects for which they are destined, or to the method of 

 manufacture ; for example, fullered shoes, stamped shoes, flat 

 shoes, shoes with calkins, summer and winter shoes, etc., of 

 which more will l^e mentioned below. Another division is 

 into hand-made and machine-made shoes, Init neither of these 

 divisions is of special importance. 



Characters of the Shoe. — These may be divided into essential 

 and non-essential. The non-essential, however, such as calkins 

 or grips in winter, may, under certain circumstances, become 

 of great importance. 



(1) Form. — A good shoe should respond exactly to the 

 shape of the hoof ; the farrier mus't therefore, in making the 

 shoe, keep clearly in his mind the form of the foot for which 

 it is intended. Front and hind, left and ri^lit feet differ in 

 shape, and each requires a shoe with certain special modifica- 

 tions (figs. 85, 86, and 87). Too much stress, therefore, cannot 

 be laid on the fact that the farrier must make himself thoroughly 

 acquainted with the normal form of the bearing surface and 

 fashion his shoe accordingly. It is always well to make the 

 shoes in pairs, that is, a left and a right. 



