16 



A front hoof of the regular standing position. — The outer wall is a 

 little more slanting and somewhat thicker than the inner. The lower 

 border of the outer quarter describes the arc of a smaller circle — that 

 is, is more sharply bent than the inner quarter. The weight falls near 

 the center of the foot and is evenly distributed over the whole bottom 

 of the hoof. The toe forms an angle with the ground of 45° to 50° and 

 is parallel to the direction of the long pastern. The toe points straight 



ahead, and when the horse 

 is moving forward in a 

 straight line the hoofs are 

 picked up and carried for- 

 ward in a line parallel to 

 the middle line of the body, 

 and are set down flat. 

 Coming straight toward 

 the observer the hoofs seem 

 to rise and fall perpendic- 

 ularly. 



A hoof of the base-wide 

 position. — This is always awry. The outer wall is more slanting, longer, 

 and thicker than the inner, the outer quarter more curved than the inner, 

 and the outer half of the sole wider than the inner. The weight falls 

 largely into the inner half of the hoof. In motion the hoof is moved 

 in a circle. From its position on the ground it breaks over the inner 

 toe, is carried forward and inward close to the supporting leg, thence 



Fig. 4. 



-Pair of fore feet of base-narrow form in toe-narrow 

 standing position. 



Fig. 5.— Forms of hoofs: a, side view of an acute-angled fore foot (shod); b, side view of a regular 

 fore foot, showing themost desirable degree of obliquity (45°); c, side view of a stumpy, or "up- 

 right," fore foot; obliquity above 50°. In a, b, c, note particularly the relation between the length 

 of the shoe and the overhanging of the heels. Note also the toe roll of the shoes. 



forward and outward to the ground, which the hoof meets first with 

 the outer toe. Horses that are toe- wide (" splay-footed" — toes turned 

 outward) show all these peculiarities of hoof-form and hoof-flight to 

 a still more marked degree and are therefore more prone to "inter- 

 fere" when in motion. 



A hoof of the base-narrow position. — This also is awry, but not to so 

 marked a decree as the base-wide hoof. The inner wall is usually a little 

 more slanting than the outer, the inner half of the sole wider than the 



179 



