322 



INFLAMMATION OF THE HOOF. 



.The shoe is made wider or longer in the diseased region 

 than at the points opposite. If, for example, the inner heel is 

 painful, the inner heel of the shoe should be a little longer and 

 a little wider than its fellow, and vice versa. To prevent the 

 shoe pressing on the painful spot, the wall is slightly rasped 

 away around that point. But if an ordinary shoe is so fitted 

 that one side of the hoof is free of pressure, it will be noted 

 that during movement the hoof approaches, and actually comes 

 in contact with, the shoe at that point, and with a rapidity in 

 direct proportion to the flatness of the hoof. The hoof springs, 

 in fact. Under such circumstances there must inevitably be 

 pressure upon the diseased spot, and, therefore, in flat feet, 

 ordinary shoes should never be used. In strong, upright feet, 

 on the other hand, this ' springing ' is much less, the heels 

 descend comparatively little, because the posterior half of the 

 hoof bears much less weight than in flat feet. 



The bar shoe (fig. 313), so called because its heels are united 

 by a transverse bar, is of the greatest service for injured or 

 diseased feet. It enables the frog to assist in supporting the 



Fig. 313.— Bar shoe, seen from above. 



body-weight, thus relieving the wall to a corresponding extent, 

 and whilst with ordinary shoes the frog is almost always 

 functionally passive, the bar shoe restores it more or less to its 

 normal function. In heavy horses with weak feet this relief is 

 of great importance. 



A few practical examples will confirm this. We may take 

 the action of the ordinary seated shoe, having a narrow bearing 



