190 



HORSESHOEING. 



Fig. 210. 



Causes. — Principally dryness, too little exercise, and shoes 

 without horizontal bearing-surface. 



The treatment is correspondingly simple : The shoes should 

 be flat, fitted full all around to coax the wall out at every point, 

 and the outer border bevelled base-wide, so as to furnish a base 



of support that is mder and 

 longer than the hoof. In 

 moderate contraction of the 

 sole, the bearing-surface of 

 the shoe should be perfectly 

 horizontal, but if the con- 

 traction be very pronounced, 

 the entire bearing-surface 

 should incline downward 

 and outward (even at the 

 toe). No toe- or side-clip 

 should be used. The shoe 

 should be reset ©very two 

 weeks ; the sole kept so thin 

 by paring that it will spring under thumb pressure, and kept 

 moist by washing, tubbing or " stopping," and the animal given 

 moderate exercise daily. 



In all forms of contraction of the hoof abundant exercise and 

 the maintenance of the natural 'pliancy of the horn hy daily 

 moistening (washing) with water are absolutely necessary for 

 successful treatment. 



4. The Wky Hoof. 



If one side wall and quarter is steep, and the other very 

 slanting or oblique, we term such a hoof a " wry hoof." Such 

 a hoof divided in the middle line presents two very dissimilar 

 halves. There are three classes of wry hoofs : 1, normal wry 

 hoofs (see Figs. 63-66) ; 2, pathological wry hoofs, or hoofs con- 

 tracted in one quarter (see contracted hoofs) ; 3, wry hoofs 

 which are the result of improper shortening of the wall and 

 of neglect in horses running barefoot. 



A fore-hoof with a contracted sole, properly 

 shod: a, toe convex in profile; 6, shoe fitted full all 

 around, and "bearing-surface" inclining outward; 

 c, outer border bevelled base-wide. 



