274 THE PRACTICE OF SHOEING. 



N'ailing on is intended to unite the shoe witli the hoof 

 hrmly and lastingly, and to effect this with the least possible 

 injury to the horn and without wounding or pressing on 

 sensitive structures. As each nail, on account of its wedge 

 form, tends to drive the shoe towards the side to which the 

 point is directed, the latter should be placed as nearly as 

 possible in the centre of the nail hole ; lateral displacement 

 of the shoe is then less likely to occur, and after driving two 

 or more nails it is scarcely possible, the horn yielding rather 

 to the nail. When slight displacement has occurred after 

 driving the lirst nail, it can be remedied by attention in 

 inserting that of the opposite side, but if two or more have 

 been driven, or displacement is considerable, the nails should be 

 withdrawn and redriven. 



It is of comparatively little moment which nail is first driven, 

 though, as a rule, one' or other of the toe nails is selected and 

 the nailing on continued from this point. 



To protect the wall and avoid injuring sensitive parts, nails 

 should be driven only so high as to grasp firm horn. For 

 light shoes -J to 1 inch and for heavy 1^ to 1^- is sufficiently 

 high, measured from the upper margin of the shoe. Many 

 farriers, thinking to show greater skill or to attain greater 

 security, drive all nails as high as possible without reference 

 to the style of hoof or shoe. This is a grave error, for, quite 

 apart from the dangers of punctures and ' binding,' the hoof is 

 soon penetrated by so many nail tracks that in time it becomes 

 difhcLilt to discover a solid part. The less the horn has been 

 split and injured by numerous thick or high driven nails, the 

 better will be the hold of a well-fitted shoe. Special skill in 

 the farrier is shown when few or no old holes can be found in 

 the hoof. 



In driving, the nail is held as long as possible between the 

 fingers to ensure its taking the proper line. The two principal 

 indications are furnished by what the Germans term the Gang 

 und Klang^ that is, the manner in which the nail advances, or 

 rather the sensation its progress imparts to the workman's hand 

 and the sound it gives forth. Each blow should be sufficient 

 to drive it from -f^ to ^ inch forward. As soon as the sound 

 becomes clearer and the nail drives with more difficulty, the 

 farrier knows that the point of the nail has entered the outer 



