SHOEING. 



713 



drawing-knife, or searcher as it was called, a small hooked, crooked 

 little instrument, was formerly kept for the purpose of exploring 

 wounds and extracting foreign bodies from the foot, and was to 

 that extent in vogue on the Continent as well as in England. But 

 theorizing:, and a fancy for a change, led the professor to order the 

 general use of the little hooked knife instead of such a broad, level 

 tool as the buttress. He had unfortunately conceived such notions as 

 that the sole of the foot did not bear the weight of the animal, that 

 it was necessary to pare it thin every time the horse was shod, 

 and that the broad, level buttress 

 was not suited for that ; hence 

 the preference for the little 

 scooping, crooked searcher. As 

 these incidents have had a dis- 

 astrous effect on shoeing, which 

 we have scarcely in any degree 

 begun to relieve, I will quote 

 from Mr. Coleman's work of 

 1798 : 



" ' Those who supposed that 

 the weight of the animal was 

 chiefly supported by the horny 

 sole, have attributed a function 

 to that organ which it does not 

 possess ; but, although the lam- 

 inae are capable of sustaining the 

 weight of the animal, yet, as 

 they are elastic, arid at every 

 step elongate, the* horny sole is 

 necessarily pressed down in the same degree, and by first descend- 

 ing, and then ascending, as the laminae dilate and contract, the 

 horny sole contributes very materially to prevent concussion. This 

 union of the crust with the coffin-bone sustains the weight of the 

 animal ; the crust supports the weight even when the horny sole 

 and frog are removed ; if the sole and frog in reality supported the 

 weight, then the foot would slip through the crust when the frog 

 and sole were taken away. 



u ' The sole, frog, and bars were taken away from both the fore 

 feet of a horse ; the feet were then alternately lifted by placing the 

 hands on the loins of the horse ; he kicked, all his weight was then 

 sustained by the laminae of the fore feet, and yet this made not 

 the smallest degree of change in the situations of the bones. 



" ' From this experiment, therefore, it is, that the union of the 

 sensitive laminae with the horny laminae is sufficiently strong to 

 support the whole weight of the animal on two feet. 



" c The first thing to be attended to is to take away the portion 

 of the sole with the drawing-knife ; and to avoid pressure, the sole 

 should be made concave or hollow. If there be any one part of 

 the practice of shoeing more important than the rest, it is this re- 



FIG. 560. Shoe for weak sole, or 

 foundered feet. 



