THK irOIlSE's HESCtJE. 23 



but through ignorance in regard to his feet, and the 

 effect it has. By tliis neglect his hoofs are allowed to 

 growiu all shapes. They need trimming, and to be kept 

 in their proper shape. A long toe does not affect the 

 colt as much as it does the shod horse, for this reason : 

 the structure of the foot is nearly all in harmony on 

 the flat foot ; on the cup foot it is different ; the wall is 

 thicker; it does not wear off as fast. I have seen a 

 few, and shod them, that were stiff, that never had a 

 shoe on. Tliis kind should have their feet cared for, 

 pared down heel and toe. The flat-foot seldom needs 

 paring on the bottom, but his feet should be trimmed. 

 Take him on the floor, hold or strap up one foot, take 

 a chisel and mallet, trim all of his feet, rasp them tiue ; 

 see if he can stand with his forward feet back of 

 straight, see if he stand well back on his hind feet, 

 and keep him so. If you want to see if your colt is 

 growing up straight and natural, and the structure of 

 his feet natural, look at the top of the heel. The heel 

 is double. If the two parts are not even, the structure 

 is changed from natural, and should be changed back. 

 On all, or nearly all, horse kind the outside wall grows 

 the fastest, and is the thickest and strongest. The 

 growth raises the outside ; that throws too much weight 

 on the inside, and warps or pushes up the inside heel 

 Look your horse over. You can equalize the weight 

 by-dressing the bottom. You can easily tell how this 

 should be done if you look. This unequal weight pro- 

 duces the same effect on colts that it does on shod 

 horses — the same unnatural strain on the back tendons 

 — warping the foot or pushing up the inside heel, 

 which turns out the toes and causes the ankles' to turn 



