THE horse's rescue., 105 



was divided against himself. His forward parts were 

 changed so as to let his weight go back on the base, which 

 it did when he stood still. But his hind parts were con- 

 stantly pulling his fore parts off the base — always on 

 a strain — when he was on his feet (which I have ex- 

 plained). When traveling he had to draw his hind 

 parts with his forward parts over that lever, caused by 

 contraction, drawing his hind feet forward under his 

 belly. It hurt him so that it caused him to amble. 

 I saw when he left the barn what position he was 

 thrown in. But what could I do ? They were all so 

 smart, and they were losing so much money by their 

 horses lying still. Some people are always stopping 

 spile holes and leaving the bung out. The fact is, 

 Mike was divided against himself. How are we going 

 to put him in harmony of action, balance him in the 

 center, and take those large air-puffs off? The prin- 

 ciple we applied on his forward feet will work behind 

 more than it did forward to change him. It seems to 

 effect all liorses more on their hind legs chang- 

 ing them back to natural, and it affects them behind 

 more to change from natural to uimatural. I soaked 

 Mike's feet, spread them, and carried out my plan as 

 nearly as I could under the circumstances and the sur- 

 roundings I had to contend with. The sole is the 

 guide in spreading all feet. Some require more, some 

 less, according to the degrees of change. No rule can 

 be laid down. If the foot is skilTully dressed and pre- 

 pared, you can spread until the sole comes down nearly 

 flat. You must look when you are spreading to see 

 if you can see it come down. It must spread at the 

 same time clear to the top of the wall. If you do not 



