HORSESHOEING. 



119 



Fig. 122. 



must under all conditions cover the white line. From the last 

 nail-hole back to the ends of the branches, for hoofs of the 

 regular standing position of the limbs, the shoe should gradually 

 widen until it projects at each quarter from a sixteenth to an 

 eighth of an inch beyond the edge of the wall. The posterior 

 half of the shoe shoidd, tlierefore, be somewhat wider than the 

 hoof. The effect of this will be to prolong the usefulness of the 

 shoes. With respect to the width of the branches, an exception 

 arises in the case of hind 

 shoes, in which the inner 

 branch, with few exceptions, 

 should closely follow the bor- 

 der of the wall ; this will pre- 

 vent interfering and tearing 

 off the shoe by the opposite 

 foot. 



Between the ends of the 

 branches and the frog there 

 should be enough room, with 

 iew exceptions, to pass a 

 foot-pick. 



In order to judge of the 

 width of a shoe which has 

 been fitted to the hoof, it is 

 of advantage to seize the hoof 

 in the left hand and, extending it towards the ground, to 

 observe from behind and above the outer border of the shoe 

 and the surfaces of the wall. 



Furthermore, the most important rule is that the shoe should 

 always have the form of the foot, so long as the form of the hoof 

 remains unaltered. In all hoofs that have already undergone 

 change of form we must strive to give the shoe that form which 

 the hoof had before it underwent change. Such treatment will 

 not only do the hoof no injury, but, on the contrary, is of 

 advantage to it, as it is well known that in time the hoof will 

 acquire the form of the shoe. 



Left fore-hoof of normal position shod. 



