tips; their form and application. 257 



they have certain disadvantages. Thus they are not sufficiently 

 durable and do not protect the hoof enough for hard work. 

 They last, as a rule, from ten to twenty days, but this is scarcely 

 enough to permit sufficient growth. They are most useful for 

 young horses in light work in which the foot, when viewed 

 from in front, is of normal shape, and when viewed from the 

 side does not appear oblique. They are more useful for front 

 than for hind feet, though an exception may be made when the 

 hoof, faultless in form, is provided with a strong wall and the 

 horn is of good quality. 



(1) The ordinary tip has a breadth at the toe of from ^ to 

 ^ inch, and a thickness of |- inch. Towards the extremities, 

 the inner angles of which should be rounded off", it becomes 

 thinner. The extent to which the thickness should be 

 diminished posteriorly depends on the strength of the horn in 

 the foot in question. In weak hoofs the ends of the tip should 

 be thin and fitted full, thouc^h even then the correct relation 



Fig. 255.— Ordinary tip. Fig. 256.— Upright hoof shod with a tip. 



between the position of the hoof and that of the fetlock cannot 

 always be attained. In strong feet, on the other hand, it is 

 sufficient if the extremities are left ^ to ^ inch in thickness. 

 The ground surface of the tip requires no fuller and can be 

 dished out. As a rule four or five nail holes are sufficient. 



This method of shoeing is most easily carried out when the 

 feet are strong. The bearing surface of the wall is only 

 lowered in the usual way at the points to be covered by the 

 tip, that is, the toe and part of the quarters. The ground 

 surface of the finished tip, which is to some extent embedded 

 in the anterior half of the hoof, must lie in the same plane as 

 the ground surface of the heels. Where the horn is very 

 strong and the anterior half of the hoof requires to be much 

 lowered, the remaining horn in the posterior half may project 



