212 



THE PKACTICE OF SHOEING. 



sufficient, but can be increased to ^ or J inch, in some cases, 

 indeed, to 1^ inches, according to the size and weight of 

 the horse. Long shoes throw greater weight on the anterior 

 half of the hoof ; short ones have an opposite effect. 



In heavy draught horses the heels may be so long as to 

 meet a vertical line dropped from the bulbs of the heel, but 

 for light horses, working at a trot or gallop, this would be 

 quite inadmissible, on account of the danger of shoes being 

 trodden on and torn off. 



This question is worthy of careful consideration. When the 

 foot is on the fjround the leng^th of the heels can have no 

 special influence on the direction of the pastern, etc. The foot 

 rests on the shoe as it would on the ground. Bat at the 

 moment preceding that of bringing the foot to the ground the 

 length of the heels is of great importance. The foot just 



Fig. 205. 



before it touches the earth is not parallel to the general surface, 

 but forms a slight angle with it. That is to say, that at the 

 moment of putting down the foot the animal raises the toe 

 and lowers the heels. Then he slightly draws back the foot, 

 and brings it parallel and in contact with the ground. This 

 movement can be noted by viewing the horse either from in 

 front or from the side. In a horse trotting towards the 

 observer the toe is often lifted, just before being set down, 

 sufficiently high to allow of the ground surface of the shoe 

 being seen. This only applies to fore-feet. 



The foot being lifted at A (fig. 205) passes into the position 



