SHOEING. 



673 



$25,000 for teaching the secret to the veterinary surgeons of the 

 army. His instructions in explaining his system were as follows : 



" If the foot is healthy, and of a natural shape, and has been 

 shod regularly, no alteration is required, but simply to pare out the 

 sole of the foot, removing the bors [bars] entirely, and opening out 

 the heels back. The surface of the frog should be trimmed out very 

 little, but the sides should never be touched. By removing the 

 bors [bars] and opening out the heels, contraction is prevented, and 

 the frog retains its natural shape, because all pressure is removed 



FIG. 499. FIG. 500. 



Old forms of shoes used by the French for the cure of contraction. 



from each side. The shoe is now to be fitted and nailed on moder- 

 ately tight. 



" The treatment for contraction, briefly speaking, is expansion. 

 If the horse is lame, the farrier should shorten the toe, lower the 

 foot all around, and open the heels back, until the blood is drawn. 

 The sole of the foot should be pared as closely as possible on each 

 side of the frog. The frog should be lowered, but the sides should 

 not be cut. A groove should be made with the rasp, just under 

 and parallel with the coronet on each side, deep enough to draw 

 blood; then, with a fine shoeing-knife cut little notches down from 

 the coronet at equal distances across the entire length of the groove. 

 These notches should be deep enough to draw blood. This will re- 

 lieve the pressure caused by contraction of the cartilages on both 

 sides, and allow them to resume their proper shape. 



" The shoe must be very carefully fitted, and have eight nail 

 holes, for the reason that it is the heel nails that relieve a foot while 



43 



