HORSESHOEING. 131 



high, and as eve^i as possible. A's soon as a nail is driven its 

 point should be immediately bent down towards the shoe in 

 order to prevent injuries. The heads of all the nails should 

 then be gone over witli a hammer and driven do^vn solidly into 

 the nail-holes, the hoof being meanwhile supported in the left 

 hand. Pincers are then held under the bent nails and they are 

 more sharply bent hj light blows upon the nail-heads. The 

 points of the nails are now nipped off near the hoof, the horn 

 which has been thrown out j.ust below the clinches by bending 

 the nails down is removed mth rasp or gouge, and the ends of 

 the nails bent do^\Ti still more, but not quite flush ^\'ith the 

 wall. This operation is called " clinching." A clinching- 

 block or a pair of ordinary blacksimith's pincers is then placed 

 under the end of the nail, now called a clinch, and by light 

 blows (in doing this the nail must not bend ^vathin the wall) 

 upon the head the clinch is turned closer to the surface of the 

 wall ; finally, with the front edge of the nail-hammer the clinch 

 is hammered down flush with the wall. On the inner half of 

 the wall the clinches should not be felt on stroking the wall 

 with the fingers. The small amount of horn that projects 

 beyond the shoe around the toe may be carefully rasped away 

 in the direction in which the wall slants, but never higher than 

 the clinches; finally, the sharp lower edge of the wall is to be 

 removed by caiTving the comer of the rasp around between 

 the shoe and the horn. 



A clinch is sufficiently long when it equals the mdth of 

 the nail at that jwint. 



It is of advantage to use a shoeing-bock or foot-stool in 

 clinching the nails on the front hoofs. The hind hoofs may be 

 clinched in the hands. Then the horse should be led out and 

 again moved in order to see whether or not the new shoeing has 

 actually accomplished what was desired. Finally, the entire 

 hoof should be given a thin layer of hoof-salve. 



