92 HORSESHOEING. 



extent, and, furthermore, should determine whether or not they 

 cross one another (thrash of the frog). At the same time he 

 should notice the length of the shoes. 



Next, the feet should be raised and the examiner should 

 notice the width of the hoof, tlie arching of the sole, the char- 

 acter of the frog, the position of the bulbs of the heel, as well 

 as the presence of any cracks or clefts in the wall. Then the 

 old shoes should be examined as to their age, form, tlie distribu- 

 tion and direction of their nail-holes ("punching"), position, 

 and wear. With respect to the form of the old shoe, one 

 should observe whether or not it corresponds to the form of 

 the hoof. The same careful examination should be made of 

 the number and distribution of the nail-holes. As regards the 

 position of the shoe, one must first ascertain whether it com- 

 pletely covers the bearing-surface of the wall, and whether the 

 shoe extends beyond the wall at any point and has caused in- 

 terfering or given rise to irregular wear. Finally, the wear of 

 the shoe should be observed, and the follo-unng points borne in 

 mind : One-sided wear, uneven setting down of the feet, and an 

 unnatural course of the ivall are often found together, especially 

 when uneven wearing of the shoe has existed for a long time, 

 — -that is, during several shoeings. As a rule, in such a case 

 the more worn branch of the shoe is too near the centre of the 

 foot, and the opposite branch too far from the centre (too 

 " full ") ; in other words, the base of support (shoe) has been 

 shifted too far in the direction of the less worn branch. More- 

 over, increased wear of a part, of a shoe is an indication that the 

 section of the wall above it is too high (too long) (Eig. 89), 

 or that the wall upon the opposite side of the foot is too low 

 (short). The twisting movement of many hind feet should, 

 from physiological reasons, not be hindered by shoeing. 



B. Raising and Holding the Feet of the Horse to be Shod. 



Thi's can always be done without much trouble if the horse 

 has been accustomed to it from early colthood. Certain rules 



