XVIIl] 



SHOEING AND CARE OF THE FEET 



215 



nail should be held at about right angles to the 

 under surface of the foot while it is being driven 

 in, the toe nail with its head away from the 

 centre of the sole, and the heel nail with its head 

 towards the frog. This will cause them to come 

 out in line. They must be so held that their 

 points will come through the wall about one 

 inch above the bottom of the wall. This can 

 be done after a little practice ; but if it is found 

 that a nail comes a quarter of an inch too high 

 or too low, it should be left, because if another 

 hole is made close to the original it may give 

 way. 



When each nail is driven through, it should 

 be driven right home. The claw of the hammer 

 is then used to twist the point of the nail over, 

 and the point is twisted off by turning it in 

 a rotary movement. Care must be taken that 

 at least one-eighth of an inch is left sticking 

 through the wall to form a sufficiently strong 

 clench to hold the nail in. 



After all the nails are thus driven in tightly 

 and clenched, they are again hammered in to 

 make sure they have not become loose. The head 

 of the pincers or other tool is held against the 

 head of each nail while the clench is hammered 

 down tight on to the wall. The practice of rasp- 

 ing a groove under the clench should be for- 

 bidden, as it tends to weaken the hold of the 

 nail ; but if the clench, after it has been securely 

 hammered down, projects too much, causing 

 it to catch in anything, it should be lightly 

 touched with the rasp, but on no account heavily 

 so as to weaken it. The rasp should not be 

 drawn round the edge of the wall to make the 

 foot look " neat," as is often done, because, how- 

 ever neat this may appear to some, it becomes 

 covered up directly the foot gets dusty or dirty. 

 The outside of the wall must never be touched 

 with the rasp. 



Shoes will practically never be lost if the 

 above simple rules are strictly adhered to. 



846. Clips (P. 139). These consist of a 

 portion of the front of the web of the shoe 

 being forced up by the farrier, while the shoe 

 is being made, to afford a firmer holding 

 between the shoe and foot. The wall is pared 

 out to fit the clip, which must be as small as 

 possible in order to avoid the necessity for 

 paring away much of the hoof, and also to avoid 

 lessening the bearing surface of the hoof too 

 much. A clip, if used, is generally made at the 

 toe for fore-shoes and one on each side of the 

 toe for hind-shoes. They are used more in 

 artillery and heavy draught horses, and are not 

 necessary in saddle and carriage horses. 



847. Removing Shoes. Before any attempt 

 is made to draw a shoe off the foot, the head of 

 each nail must be sharply tapped home, and 

 every clench must be cut off with the buffer. 

 The shoe should then be drawn a little out with 

 the pincers, first drawing at the toe, and next at 



the two heels. The shoe should then be ham- 

 mered on again, when each nail head will pro- 

 trude sufficiently for it to be withdrawn carefully 

 with the pincers. The practice of wrenching off 

 shoes is dangerous, and seldom saves time, but 

 very often causes a great deal more trouble in 

 the end. 



848. Calkins. These consist of projections 

 on the wearing surface of the shoe on both heels. 

 They are generally used on heavy draught horses 

 to prevent slipping. (P. 132e.) I object to their 

 use, unless made very short, because they tend 

 to keep the frog off the ground. They also tend 

 to raise the heels too high. For this reason 

 they should be made of steel let into the iron 

 shoe, because then they can be short and wide, 

 and will not wear at all rapidly. The use of 

 calkins in winter is described in Sec. 852. 



849. Tips. These are shoes of half the 

 ordinary length, or not more than half, which 

 cover only the toe and fore part of the quarters 

 of the hoof, leaving the heels and rear part of 

 the quarters bare. They should be tapered off 

 towards the rear so as to afford a level surface 

 against the ground from toe to heel. With their 

 use the dangers of contracted heels, diseased 

 frogs, slipping, etc., are greatly reduced, and the 

 only objection to their use is that, until a horse 

 is used to wearing them, hard roads and stones 

 will damage the unprotected parts. For unpaved 

 and stoneless trails, as we see in Alberta, for 

 example, they should be used in preference to 

 whole shoes. Heels and frogs rapidly become 

 stronger and better fitted to resist hard work if 

 tips are used, but of course, at first, care must 

 be taken not to go over stony or hard roads. 

 Two nails are generally sufficient on each side, 

 i.e. four in all. 



850. Bar shoes have a small bar passing 

 from heel to heel under the frog, and are only 

 used to relieve some other portion of the foot 

 from pressure, as in corns, etc. They do not, 

 however, in any way compensate for want of 

 proper frog pressure. Continual use of these 

 will cause contracted heels. When used, great 

 care must be taken that the nails are not near 

 the heels. (Sees. 833, 837.) 



Rocking shoes, as the name implies, are made 

 with thick quarters and thin toes and heels, i.e. 

 with a rocking wearing surface, but level upper 

 surface. They are used to relieve the foot in 

 laminitis, etc. 



851. Feathering. Feather - edged or 

 " Knocked-up " Shoes (P. 139). Feathering con- 

 sists in narrowing the web on the inside of the 

 shoe. This is done to prevent " brushing," or 

 " speedy cutting," etc. Many horses that do not 

 " brush " at all are shod in this manner as a 

 precaution. The hind feet, as a rule, are the 

 only ones that are shod with feathered shoes. 



Concave. A shoe is said to be concave when 

 its inner border is bevelled, so that the top of 



