20 



PREPARATION OF THE HOOF FOR THE SHOE. 



After raising the clinches of the nails with a rather dull clinch- 

 cutter ("buffer") and drawing the nails one at a time, the old shoe is 

 critically examined and laid aside. Remaining stubs of nails are then 

 drawn or punched out and the hoof freed of dirt and partially detached 

 horn. The farrier has now to "dress" the overgrown hoof to receive 

 the new shoe; in other words, he has to form a base of support so 

 inclined to the direction of the pasterns that in motion this surface 

 shall be set flat upon the ground. He must not rob the hoof nor 

 leave too much horn; either mistake may lead to injury, if he has 

 made a careful preliminary examination he knows what part of the 

 wall requires removal and what part must be left, for he already 

 knows the direction of the foot-axis and the wear of the old shoe, and 

 has made up his mind just where and how much horn must be removed 

 to leave the hoof of proper length and the foot-axis straight. 



A greatly overgrown hoof may be quickly shortened with sharp 

 nippers and the sole freed of semidetached flakes of horn. The con- 

 cave sole of a thick-walled, strong hoof may be pared out around the 

 point of the frog, but not so much as to remove all evidences of exfoli- 

 ation. The wall should be leveled with the rasp till its full thickness, 

 the white line, and an eighth of an inch of the margin of the sole 

 are in one horizontal plane, called the " bearing surface of the hoof." 

 The bars if long may be shortened, but never pared on the side. The 

 branches of the sole in the angle between the bars and the wall of the 

 quarters should be left a little lower than the wall, so as not to be 

 pressed upon by the inner web of the shoe. "Corns," or bruises of 

 the pododerm, are usually a result of leaving a thick mass of dry, 

 unyielding horn at this point. The frog should not be touched fur- 

 ther than to remove tags or layers that are so loose as to form no 

 protection. A soft frog will shorten itself spontaneously by the exfo- 

 liation of superficial layers of horn, while if the frog is diy, hard, and 

 too prominent it is better to soften it by applying moisture in some 

 form and allow it to wear away naturally than to pare it down. 

 It is of advantage to have the frog project below the level of the wall 

 an amount equal to the thickness of a plain shoe, though we rarely see 

 frogs of such size except in draft horses. The sharp lower border of 

 the wall should be rounded with the rasp to prevent its being bent 

 outward and broken away. Finally, the foot is set to the ground and 

 again observed from all sides to make sure that the lines bounding the 

 hoof correspond with the direction of the long pastern. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SHOE. 



The shoe is an artificial base of support, b} r no means ideal, because 

 it interferes to a greater or less degree with the physiology of the 



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