NOTES ON SHOEING OF HORSES. 23 



and a predisposition to disease. High-heeled shoes 

 and other such devices have a similarly injurious 

 tendency. 



27. The bars are but the doubling back or The bars. 

 redupHcation of the crust inwards at the heels, and 

 are of the same structure as the crust. 



They are the stays of the outer wall of the foot 

 at the heels. They are, if preserved, the greatest 

 possible obstacle to contraction at the heels ; more- 

 over, by affording a double bearing to the shoe at 

 that part, they greatly diffuse and lessen concus- 

 sion ; and further, by the double bearing given to 

 the shoe at the heels, they aid materially in prevent- 

 ing undue pressure of the shoe on the seat of com. 



But if the bars are cut away and thereby removed 

 from the healthy and natural stimulus of work, they, 

 in accordance with the usual rule of nature, shrink 

 up, and thus are unable to give to the crust at the 

 heels that support which nature intended them to 

 afford. 



Again, though the bars themselves may not be 

 cut away, yet if the sole, and especially the seat of 

 com, be pared out, the bars are deprived of lateral 

 support, and further, have a tendency to dry up and 

 shrink. The flakes of the sole round the bars 

 appear to have the same effect in preserving their 

 moisture as the gluey superficial layer in preserving 

 the moisture and toughness of the crust. 



