EXAMINATION OF HOOF BEFORE SHOEING. 571 



distribution of the nails. Does the shoe fully cover the entire loAver 

 border of the ^vall ^ or is it too narrow, or litted so full on the inside 

 that it has given rise to interfering? or has the shoe been nailed on 

 crooked? or has it become loose and shifted? is it too short, or so wide 

 at the ends of the branches as not to support the buttresses of the 

 hoof? Does the shoe correspond with the form of the hoof? Are 

 the nails distributed so as to interfere as little as i:)ossible with the 

 expansion of the quarters? are there too many? are they too large? 

 driven too "fine'" or too high? These are questions which the 

 observer should put to himself. 



Note carefully the wear of the old shoe. It is the unimpeachable 

 evidence of the manner in which the hoof has been set to the ground 

 since the shoe was nailed to it, and gives valuable " j)ointers " in lev- 

 eling the hoof. Wear is the effect of friction between the shoe and the 

 ground at the moment of contact. Since the proi)erly leveled hoof 

 is set flat to the ground, the " grounding wear " of a shoe should be 

 uniform at every point, though the toe will always show wear due 

 to scouring at the moment of '' breaking over." Everything which 

 tends to lengthen the stride tends also to make the " grounding wear "' 

 more pronounced in the heels of the shoe, while all causes which 

 shorten the stride — as stiffening of the limbs through age, overwork, 

 or disease — bring the grounding wear nearer the toe. 



An exception should be noted, however, in founder, in which the 

 grounding wear is most pronounced at the heels. 



If one branch of the shoe is found to be worn much thinner than 

 the other, the thinner branch has either been set too near the middle 

 line of the foot (fitted too close), where it has been bearing greater 

 weight while rubbing against the ground, or, what is much more 

 often the case, the section of wall above the thinner branch has been 

 too long (too high), or the o])posite section of wall has been too short 

 (too low). '• One-sided wear, uneven setting down of the feet, and an 

 unnatural course of the wall are often found together." ITow much 

 an old shoe can tell us, if we take time and pains to decipher its scars! 



The horse should next l)e observed at a walk and at a trot or pace, 

 from in front, from behind, and from the side, and the " breaking 

 over." the carriage of the feet, and the manner of setting them to the 

 ffround carefuUv noted and remembered. A horse does not always 

 move just as his standing position w()uld seem to inii)ly. ( )flen theiv. 

 is so irreat a difTercncc in the form and slant of two fore hoofs or two 

 himl hoofs that we are in doubt as to tlnii- normal shaj^e, when a few 

 steps at a trot will usually solve the prol)lem instantly by showing us 

 tlie line of flight of the hoofs and rcfci ring llicni to the I'cgnlar, base- 

 wide, or base-nai'row form. 



No man is competent eitlu-i- to shoe a horse or lo direct ihe work 

 till he has made the ])recited observations. 



