18 NOTES ON SHOEING OF HORSES. 



In some cases, however, when the crust is rasped, 

 there is an abnormal growth of sole. The reason 

 of this is simple enough. From want of horn in 

 a damaged crust to sustain the superincumbent 

 weight, undue pressure comes on the insensitive 

 sole. The pressure on the insensitive reacts on 

 the sensitive sole, and may produce irritation and 

 inflammation in it, and hence an increased secretion 

 of insensitive sole. The irritation of the sensitive 

 sole is also aggravated by the pressure on the 

 interior parts of the foot caused by the contraction 

 of the hoof, which results from rasping. 



Stopping 21. The non-paring of the sole obviates the 

 necessity of the ordinary practice of stopping the feet. 

 The supposed object of stopping is to keep, or 

 rather to render, the sole moist or soft. Nature, 

 however, will do this better than art, if the natural 

 covering of the sole, viz. the outer flakes of fibres, 

 be not artificially removed. 



Again, there are objections to stopping even in 

 pared feet. If the insensible sole, after being pared 

 thin, according to the usual practice, is also made 

 soft by stopping, there is a risk that the sensitive 

 sole, which lies immediately above it, may be 

 injured by stones or other causes, which would 

 not have been felt through a sole of the thickness 

 which nature provided, nor, perhaps, unless it had 

 been rendered artificially soft by stopping. 



