SHOEING. 



much weakened by old nail-holes, punch the holes where there is 

 soundest horn to nail to. A thin shoe will not admit of any full- 

 ering, because it weakens the shoe, without giving any special ad- 

 vantage in nailing. The stamp form of punching the holes should 

 be used ; that is, the hole made larger at the surface and smaller 

 at the bottom, so that the nail heads will fit into it exactly. 



The method of driving the nails is next worthy of considera- 

 tion. There are two methods ; one, starting the nail rather near 

 the outer surface and driving high, called the English method, 

 which is practiced very generally in this country; the other, 

 starting the nail deep and bringing out low, known as the French 

 method, which leading authorities concede to be the best. If the 

 nail is driven very near the surface, it is liable to chip or break 

 the horn out, which injures and weakens the wall very much ; 

 whereas driving deep and bringing out low, insures a good hold, 

 and the wall will be almost grown out by the next shoeing. Con- 

 sequently they should be punched deep over those points where 

 the wall is thickest, and less so toward the quarters where it is 

 thinnest, or proportionately farther from the outer margin of the 

 shoe. 



The common method of fullering all shoes alike, and bringing 

 the nails at the same distance from the edge, can be no more 

 adapted for all kinds of feet, than can the size of the shoe itself. 

 Thif> straight-jacket way of punching all alike, brings the nail-holes 

 at the same location at each repetition of shoeing, so that if the 

 shoe becomes loose, or is pulled off, this part of the wall is liable to 

 be torn off, or so split and broken as to leave only a soft, imperfect 

 horn. In resetting such a shoe, it becomes necessary to put it 

 farther back under the foot in order to gain secure nail-hold. Not 

 only this, but the portion of the protruding wall being cut down 

 to the shoo, leaves it deformed and injured to an extent that 

 several months' growth cannot repair. But if the holes be punched 

 over parts that would give a secure hold, the shoe can be nailed on 

 sufficiently firm to hold it without doing harm, and thereby pre- 

 serve the symmetry of the foot. In such a case it may be neces- 

 sary to nail rather close to the heels ; but even this had better be 

 done for a short time than risk injury and malformation by the 

 method named. 



If by carelessness or otherwise a nail should be driven into the 



