222 



THE PRACTICE OF SHOEING. 



As hunters are very liable to overreach when landing over a 

 fence their hind shoes require special care in fitting. The toe 

 must be fitted straight, be well rounded both inside and out 

 and set back slightly behind the margin of the toe wall. The 

 portion of the shoe which inflicts the wound is usually the 

 back, not the front margin of the toe of the shoe. The reason 

 of horses overreaching is often to be found in the toe of the 

 front foot being left too long and the heels being lowered. 

 This renders it more difficult for the muscles of the fore-limb 

 to lift the body-weight ; hence the animal does not ' get away ^ 

 quickly in front and the hind foot overtakes the fore, inflicting 

 a wound. The remedy here is to shorten and round the toe of 

 the fore-foot and to spare the heels. 



TEMPOEARY SHOES. 



During mauoBUvres or a rim with hounds a horse not un- 

 frequently casts a shoe, and, to prevent injury and breakage 

 of the hoof, some special contrivance becomes necessary. 



To meet such emergencies shoes have been invented which 

 can be easily applied and which dispense with the use of nails. 



Fig. 215. — Temporary shoe with leather boot and straps, o, hinge. 



Several have been patented, but the most practical is that 

 figured. It consists of a light shoe hinged in the centre and 

 provided with a kind of leather boot, which fits over the hoof 

 and is fastened by straps. The illustration (fig. 215) shows 

 its form and construction very clearly. 



