PART II. 



CHAPTER III. 



SHOEING HEALTHY HOOFS. 



A. Examination of a Horse Preliminary to Shoeing. 



An examination should be made while the animal is at rest, 

 and afterwards while in motion. The object of the examination 

 is to gain accurate knowledge of the direction and movements 

 of the limbs, of the form and character of the feet and hoofs, of 

 the manner in which the foot reaches and leaves the ground, 

 of the form, length, position, and wear of the shoe, and dis- 

 tribution of the nail-holes, in order that at the next and sub- 

 sequent shoeings all ascertained peculiarities of hoof -form may 

 be kept in mind and all discovered faults of shoeing corrected. 



The examination is best conducted in the following order: 

 The horse should first be led at a walk in a straight line from 

 the observ^er over as level a surface as possible, then turned 

 about and brought back, that the examiner may notice the 

 direction of the limbs and the manner in which the hoofs are 

 moved and set to the ground. "While the animal is moving 

 away the observer notices particularly the hind limbs, and as 

 it comes towards him he examines the fore-limbs. Then a few 

 steps at a trot will not only show whether or not the animal 

 is lame, but will often remove all doubt in those cases in which, 

 while the animal was walking, the examiner was unable to 

 make up his mind as to which was the predominating position 

 of the limb. The problem presented is, therefore, to determine 

 whether or not the direction of the limbs, the lines of flight 

 of the hoofs, and the manner in which they are set down and 

 picked up are regular. If there are deviations from the normal 

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