- AND HOW TO KEEP IT SOUND. 15 



touched with the rasp ; and the sole presents such a small 

 quantity of dead horn, that the knife should be used with 

 great discretion. 



In the first case the thickness of the sole prevents the due 

 descent of the coffin bone, when the horse's weight is thrown 

 apon the foot ; and it requires in consequence to be pared 

 iown thinner and rendered more yielding ; while in the lat- 

 'er case it is already so thin and unresisting, that it can with 

 difficulty support the coffin bone in its proper place, and 

 offers at best but a feeble resistance to its downward ten- 

 dency. 



The consideration of the foregoing circumstances will show 

 the impracticability of prescribing general directions, capable 

 of meeting the exigences of all feet ; and the futility of at- 

 tempting to establish one particular mode of paring out all 

 feet— one particular mode of applying the shoes — or one par- 

 ticular form of shoe. They must, each in its turn, be varied 

 to meet the degree of deviation from what may be called a 

 perfect foot. Perfect feet, or indeed tolerably well formed 

 feet, with a fair growth of horn, should have the toe shorten- 

 ed, the heels lowered, and the sole well pared out ; that is, 

 all the dead horn removed, and, if need be, some of the living 

 too, until it will yield, in some small degree, to hard pressure 

 from the thumb. 



The corners formed by the junction of the crust and bars 

 should be well pared out, particularly on the inside ; for this 

 is the common seat of corn, and any accumulation of horn in 

 this situation must increase the risk of bruising the sensible 

 sole between the inner point or heel of the coffin bone and the 

 horny sole. I very much doubt either the utility or wisdom 

 of leaving the bars projecting beyond the surface of the sole ; 

 it cannot possibly increase the power of resisting contraction, 

 and this projecting rim is left exposed to the danger of being 

 broken and bruised by contact with stones and other hard 

 substances ; and it is further attended with the disadvantage 

 of making the cleaning out of these corners a work of con- 

 siderable ingenuity with so unwieldy an instrument as a com- 

 mon drawing-knife. I prefer paring them down to a level 

 with the sole, or very nearly so ; avoiding however every 

 approach to what is called " opening out the heels," a most 

 reprehensible practice, which means cutting away the sides 

 of the bars, so as to show an apparent increase of width be- 

 tween the heels, which may for the time deceive the eye ; but 

 it is a mere illusion, purchased at the expense of impaired 



