148 HORSE-SIIOES, ETC. 



Calkins should be at right angles to the shoe, regular and 

 quadrangular in outline and not too high. The best are more 

 or less square in section and their corners are rounded off 

 (figs. 93 and 103, h). When of this form they are most easily 

 sharpened in winter. Front shoes are sometimes provided 

 with calkins bevelled away obliquely at the back. They are 

 most useful for horses that cut (fig. 94). 



The heio'ht of the calkin should be twice the thickness of 

 the portion of the shoe immediately in front of it, and both 

 calkins should be of the same height. The greatest injury is 

 done when the outer calkin is lower than the inner. The inner 

 upper edge of the heel should be well rounded off so as to give 

 space for the frog. 



Shoes are sometimes formed with a longish quadrangular 

 projection termed a toe-piece or toe-grip (fig. 103, a). Toe-grips 

 were introduced later than calkins. They were intended to 

 grasp the ground and to give the shoe greater durability. 

 Toe-pieces in hind shoes give draught horses a much better 

 hold in winter and on slippery ground. 



The grips, usually made of a special steel, though sometimes 

 only of iron, are separately forged. According to their form 

 they are termed diamond-headed, chisel-headed, and blunt. The 

 diamond-headed require two heats, the chisel-headed only one 

 heat in foroing. The chisel-headed also is a better and more 

 useful form than the diamond and does not require any special 

 anvil. The blunt grip is applied by heating the grip and shoe 

 and then wielding together. In practice some prefer one form, 

 some another. 



One manufacturer, Mr Wooldridge, makes a specialty of 

 self -fastening toe and heel-pieces. His system consists in fit- 

 ting a tapered-shank cog into a parallel-sided hole. The hole 

 should be of such size that w^hen the cog is inserted and lightly 

 driven home a space exists between the shoulder of the cog 

 and the surface of the shoe. The weight of the horse acting 

 on the cogs then tends to drive them still further home, so 

 that the longer the cogs are worn the more firmly do they be- 

 come fixed. We believe this method of shoeing has proved 

 very successful and is largely used in the North. In fitting, a 

 punch is first driven through the foot surface of the shoe. 

 Then a drift is passed through the aperture left by the punch, 



