FITTING SHOES FOR HORSES THAT CUT. 291 



To prevent the shoe shifting its position a side clip (a) 

 must be fitted. Neither the shoe nor the hoof should ex- 

 hibit any sharp or projecting edges on the inner side, and 

 any prominent nail heads must be removed. The remedies 

 for striking produced by local swellings, weakness, over- 

 work, or unequal length of the traces are self-apparent. In 

 some cases shoeing can only diminish striking and the in- 

 jured part must always be protected by a well-fitting boot. 

 Other means of protection are the insertion of a fragment 

 of leather between shoe and hoof which projects to the ex- 

 tent of -|- or ^ inch and is kept well greased. The contact 

 of the leather with the part struck is less injurious than 

 that of the hoof or shoe. Special pads are made for this 

 purpose, consisting of a small, elongated, rounded portion 

 and a flattened expansion, through which the nails are 

 driven. The rounded part projects at the sides of the foot 

 and serves the same purpose as the leather. Thick rubber 

 rings are occasionally used, being slipped over the hoof 

 and allowed to rest just below the fetlock. Yorkshire boots 

 (of doubled blanket) are also employed as temporary pro- 

 tection. 



Delperier recently described a very ingenious way of 

 preventing the horse cutting. He used gaiters extending 

 from the upper part of the coronet to below the knee, 

 and found that, by tightly lacing these, the action of the 

 limb was somewhat limited and that marked abduction 

 occurred. His experiments extended over two years, and 

 he was able by this method to completely prevent cutting 

 in a horse which had resisted all other methods of treat- 

 ment. 



The American weighted shoe is sometimes of value, and is 

 certainly worth a trial in inveterate cases. 



A last method is to insert in the hollow of the heel a 

 moderate sized pad fixed in position by means of a strap. 

 This limits the flexion of the limb in a similar way to 

 Delperier's gaiter and induces a degree of abduction pro- 

 portioned to the amount of interference with flexion. A 

 very little difference in movement is sufficient to entirely 

 prevent injury, and this system has been favourably reported 

 on by a large number of observers. The pad does not cause 



