HORSESHOEING. 



81 



Suppose now a hoof is before us ; it is first necessary to know 

 whether or not it is healthy. Unfortunately, a perfectly healthy 

 hoof is not so easy to find as one may think. We recognize a 

 sound hoof by the following marks: Seen from in front or 

 from the side, the course of the wall from the coronet to the 

 ground, in tlie direction of the horn-tubes, is straight, — tliat is, 

 bent neither in nor out. A straight edge, placed upon the wall 

 in the direction of the hora-tubes, touches at every point. The 

 wall must show neither longitudinal nor transverse cracks or 



Fig. 83. 



Fig. 84. 



Wide fore-hoof. 



Narrow fore-hoof. 



fissures. If there be rings, their position and course are im- 

 portant. Rings which pass around the entire circumference 

 of the wall parallel to the coronet indicate nothing more than 

 disturbances of nutrition of the hoof; hut the hoof cannot pass 

 for sound when the rings have any other position and direction 

 than the one mentioned, or if the rings upon any part of the 

 wall are more marked than elsewhere, even though they may 

 be parallel to the coronary band. Marked ring-building upon 

 the hoofs of horses which have regular feeding, grooming, and 

 work indicates a weak hoof. Viewed from the ground-surface 



