as much as possible, a bevel toed shoe is also good, keep the 

 heels middling high, and the toes cut down low and short- 

 ened up. These shoes are not very good for fast work, 

 as they will slip back too much on leaving the ground, which 

 retards speed but will help to make speed in lots of slow 

 ones that require action. 



XXIV. SPEEDY CUTTING. 



A horse that is taking his work and is "speed cutting" 

 and still continues to be a good actor must be game. -Speed 

 cutting begins at the coronet or a little higher up and con- 

 tinues up the pastern mostly on the inside of leg to the 

 top of ankle and even above that. There are three things 

 that cause this, the most prominent one to look for, is the 

 inside of the hind feet are a lot higher than the outside; 

 seven times out of ten the outside of front feet will be 

 found longer or higher than the inside. The horse may or 

 may not be carrying the proper weight. If he is pulling a 

 part of a ton on the bit to hold him together, he is not 

 properly balanced with weight. The hitting is mostly done 

 with the outside toe of the front shoe. If you can find 

 some one who can level and balance these feet on the legs 

 there will be a big change in the action. 



Excessive front, and not enough of hind, action will 

 •cause speed cutting. Excessive hock and stifle action and 

 not enough action in front will also cause it. When the 

 action is excessive, decrease it by lowering the quarters and 

 heels and by shoeing very light, if the action of the other 

 end needs to be increased, shorten the toes and add weight, 

 do not be afraid, four to five ounces will be better to experi- 

 ment with than one or two. After the horse gains confi- 

 dence he may not need any extra weight. The most im- 

 portant thing will be to find some one who can fix the feet, 

 and the feet will be found as I have stated above. There 

 are very few who are good judges of a balanced foot. It 



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