PARING OF THE FOOT. 497 



applj than that which is often nsed by the village smith ; but 

 it will be the owner's fault if his directions are not implicitly 

 obeyed. 



Even at the commencement of the operation of shoeing, the 

 eye of the master or the trustworthy groom will be requisite. 

 The shoe is often torn from the foot in a most violent and cruel 

 way. Scarcely half the clinches are raised, when the smith 

 seizes the shoe with his pincers, and forcibly wrenches it off. 

 The shi-inking of the horse will tell how much he suffers, and the 

 fragments of the crust will also afford sufficient proofs of the 

 mischief that has been done, especially when it is recollected 

 that every nail hole is enlarged by this brutal force, and the 

 future safety of the shoe to a greater or less degree weakened ; 

 and pieces of the nail are sometimes left in the substance of the 

 crust, which become the cause of future mischief. 



In the paring out of the foot, also, there is frequently 

 great mischief done. The formidable butteris is still often 

 found in the smithy of the country farrier, although it is ban- 

 ished from the practice of every respectable operator. A worse 

 evil, however, remains. By the butteris much of the sole was 

 injuriously removed, and the foot was occasionally weakened, 

 but the drawing-knife frequently left a portion of sole sufficient 

 to destroy the elasticity of the foot, and to lay the foundation 

 for contraction, corns, and permanent lameness. One object, 

 then, of the looker-on is to ascertain the actual state of the foot. 

 On the descent of the crust when the foot is placed on the 

 ground, depends the elasticity and healthy state of the foot; 

 and that may be satisfactorily determined by the yielding of 

 the sole, although to a very slight degree, when it is strongly 

 pressed upon with the thumb. The sole being pared out, the 

 crust on each side may be lowered, but never reduced to a level 

 with the sole ; otherwise this portion will be exposed to contin- 

 ual injury. 



The heels often suffer considerably from the carelessness or 

 ignorance of the smith. The weight of the horse is not thrown 

 equably on them, but considerably more on the inner than the 

 outer quarter. The consequence of this is, that the inner heel 

 is worn down more than the outer, and the foundation is laid 

 for tenderness, corns, and ulceration. The smith is too oftev 

 Vol. II.— 32 



