INTERFERING 51 



ground, or, in other words, uneven treading, with 

 the ill-consequences already explained. 



Charlier shoes sometimes do very well and are 

 much safer than a three-quarter shoe. This is a 

 light, narrow-webbed shoe, that only comes half 

 way round on either side of the hoof and is 

 sunken into a groove cut out of the plantar sur- 

 face of the wall, so that the lower surface of it is 

 just flush with the quarters that are not grooved 

 out. By this plan there is an even bearing all 

 round the hoof, a light shoe, and one no more 

 likely to cause injury to the opposite leg than 

 the natural unshod hoof. The drawback about 

 this shoe for general use on hard roads is that 

 it has not strength enough to form a substantial 

 stay to the hoof. It also lessens the action, and 

 horses are apt to go sore with them on very hard 

 roads. 



It is questionable if we have a much better 

 device for shoeing interfering horses than the 

 rubber pads now so generally in use in cities. 

 Their use has a tendency to prevent interfering 

 by virtue of their effect in preventing slipping, 

 which is one of the exciting causes of this trouble. 

 In the hind legs, where "cutting" is most usual, 

 the inner and back part of the fetlock is the com- 

 mon seat of injury. Occasionally in horses with 

 a good deal of hock action, they will strike the 



