II. PREPARING THE FOOT FOR THE SHOE. 



To fix feet is the most important part of shoeing the 

 horse. In fixing the foot, the first thing to take into con- 

 sideration is, what sort of work are you fixing the foot for, 

 is it for a draft horse, a road horse, or a trotter or a pacer? 

 Does the horse wing, paddle, speedy-cut or cross-fire, does 

 he hit his ankles, shins, knees, arms, hocks, or elbows? Is 

 his action too high or too low? Is he too long or too short 

 gaited? Is he striding longer with one leg than another? 



If you go to work and cut the feet down without 

 taking some of these faulty things into consideration you 

 are liable to get his feet just to the reverse way to what 

 they should be, and place him in an uncomfortable position 

 instead of a comfortable one. In preparing the bottom of 

 a horse's foot you must bear in mind that the foot can be 

 fixed to straighten out different kinds of faulty action, and 

 if you have not learned it by a close study of experimenting 

 or by being taught by some one that knew all the different 

 ways of balancing a foot on the leg to correct faulty action, 

 then to learn this you will have to have it explained to you 

 and you should see the job executed, see it done, and then 

 go and see the results obtained, while the horse is in action. 

 Then you will know that something is accomplished by 

 scientifically fixing the feet to correct faulty action; you 

 have to show people nowadays. 



Why I say that fixing the feet is the most important 

 part of shoeing, and the most difficult to get done, is be- 

 cause the farriers that can level and balance feet of rough 

 gaited trotters and pacers to assist nature in correcting 

 faulty action are very scarce, some of them cannot think 

 long enough while cutting with the rasp and knife, and the 

 first thing you know they have cut one side of the foot 

 too low and are not able to cut the opposite side on a level 

 to the side that was cut wrong. 



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