HORSESHOEING. 



199 



Fig. 219. 



—-& 



It is driven through and the ends firmly clinched. Such a nail 

 is easily placed, need not press upon fleshy leaves, can not be 

 stripped off or lost, and holds fast. The horse should s.tand 

 on the foot while the rivet is being clinched. Two are sufficient 

 for a complete crack (Fig. 217). 



A more rapid, though less 

 efficient method of immobilizing 

 a toe- or a quarter-crack is by 

 the use of the Vachette hook. A 

 special apparatus is required 

 (see Fig. 219). The burning 

 iron (Fig. 219, 4) is brought 

 to a yellow heat, its end applied 

 to the wall so that the two ears 

 are on opposite sides and equi- 

 distant from the crack, when it 

 is pressed firmly till the shoulder 

 (Fig. 219, h) touches the sur- 

 face of the wall. A Vachette 

 hook, the distance between the 

 points of which equals the dis- 

 tance between the ears of the 

 firing iron, is seized by the 

 special pincers (C), pressed 

 into the slots burned to receive 

 it, and is then driven into the 



horn bv COmDrPSsino- thp ninPPr'? ^' shoulder; B, Vachette hook; C, pincers 



noru uy comprchbin^ ine pincers. ^^^ io^cing. the hook into the wall. 

 At the toe these hooks are fre- 

 quently stripped off by the heels of the opposite shoe (in hind 

 feet). Free application of hoof ointment, and maceration of 

 the horn by melting snow or mud tends to loosen them so that 

 they often drop out. 



An efficient method of fastening either a toe- or a quarter- 

 crack is by using a metal plate one-sixteenth {^/i^') of an 

 inch thick, provided with four to eight holes for the reception 



A, Vachette burning iron for making the 

 two slots to receive the ends of the hook; 



