THE HIND SHOE. 475 



off, to guard against " overreach." The toe should rest fairly 

 on the ground, to enable the horse to get a good purchase for 

 throwing his weight forward. It is a bad.jDlan to make the toe 

 broad, and to place clips at the side of it ; it is almost sure to 

 cause the very evil it was intended to prevent, by making the 

 horse '' forge," as it is called. 



Many persons think that " forging " is caused by the front 

 of the toe of the hind shoe striking against the heel of the fore 

 shoe; but that is a mistake. Tlie sound is produced «in this 

 way ; when the horse raises his fore foot from the ground, and 

 does not instantly throw it forward, but dwells in the action, 

 the hind foot, following quickly, is forced into the opening of 

 the fore shoe before the fore foot gets out of the way ; and the 

 corners of the broad toe, made still broader by the clips at the 

 sides, are struck against the inner rim of the web of the fore 

 shoe on each side just behind the quarters, and cause the 

 unpleasant clicking sound. The only way to avoid this dis- 

 agreeable noise is to make the hind shoe narrow at the toe, 

 and rather pointed, with the clip in the centre ; and then the 

 point of the toe, clip and all, will enter the opening of the fore 

 shoe held up to receive it, and be stoj)ped by the sole or frog 

 before any part of the two shoes can come together, and the 

 noise will cease. 



I have said that you should round off the back edge of the 

 web at the toe to prevent an " overreach." It is commonly 

 supposed that this also is done by \h.e front of the toe ; whereas, 

 it is always done by the hack edge^ which in a well-worn shoe 

 you will find is as sharp as a knife. Now, if the horse in gal- 

 loping does not lift his fore foot from the ground, and throw it 

 forward in time to make way for the hind foot, the hind foot 

 overreaches it, and cuts a piece out of the soft parts above the 

 heel, and produces a very troublesome wound. 



The hind foot expands less than the fore foot ; still, jou 

 should place the nail holes so as not to confine the foot. I have 

 found four nails on the outside and three on the inside suflicient 

 to hold any hind shoe firmly to the foot The holes on the in- 

 side should be stamped closer together than those on the out- 

 side, and they should be placed forward toward the toe, so as to 

 leave the inside quarter and heel free to expand. A small foot 



