i6o 



a prick is not difficult of detection, though it may be mentioned that 

 sometimes, after being shod, horses may go lame, when the heels have been 

 very much pared down, although there be no prick or injury whatev^er. 



Before mentioning the usual signs of a prick, we may shortly consider 

 some of the risks encountered in nailing on the shoe according to the 

 English method, briefly comparing it with the Arabian plan. " In warm 

 countries," writes Mayhew, "the horse's hoof grows strong and thick, and 

 the wall is allowed to descend half an inch below the sole. Completely 

 through the portion of the projecting hoof, the untutored Arab drives the 

 nails to secure the shoe. Proceeding thus, he does not injure the foot by the 

 insertion of foreign bodies through its more brittle substance, while he 

 secures both the resistance and tough qualities of the complex covering of 

 the foot. The English smith, on the contrary, by ranging the holes for the 

 fastenings round the edge of the shoe, drives the nails into the harder kind 

 of horn and transfixes the crust for a considerable distance. The English 

 shoeing nail is intended only to pierce through the black or outer substance 

 of the wall. Now, though this may seemingly afford the better hold, it also 

 offers the more dangerous dependence." There is, moreover, the risk of 

 pricking the sensitive parts, when the nail happens to turn a little to one side, 

 as well as of driving it "too fine;" that is forcing it too near the white 

 horn, rather than of directing it through the centre of the narrow dark crust. 

 The smith ought, in shoeing a hoof with thin walls, to exercise the greatest 

 care not to injure the sensitive parts by pricking or by driving the nail 

 "too fine ;" for a nail when driven "too fine " may bulge inwards, when the 

 animal is worked, and inflammation then setting in, severe lameness and the 

 formation of matter are sometimes induced. 



Mr. Mayhew, did not advocate the Arabian method, but he 

 pointed out that the drawing knife might be used with more caution, and he 

 saw no reason why the wall need be cut away until level with the horny 

 sole. The latter, by being thus exposed close to the earth, is frequently 

 injured. He suggested on these grounds that half-an-inch of crust should 

 be allowed to project below the sole, which should be of moderate thickness,- 

 The idea that the breadth of the shoe affords the slightest protection should 

 be at once abolished, and the shoes should be made just wide enough to 

 afford protection to the wall. With these rational views we entirely 

 coincide. 



We may point out, in respect to levelling both sides of the lower surface 

 of the hoof, that the difference of a few fractions of an inch between them 

 may lead to very untoward results. A blacksmith should always be careful 

 to ascertain whether the foot is level or not, because undue strain is imposed 

 on the joints and ligaments when there is unequal pressure, and, moreover,, 

 the hoof tends to become deformed, and the growth of the horn modified 

 (Fleming). 



In the following plan, to show how the hoof should be levelled at each 

 side, in order to preserve the proper direction of the limb and foot, the line 

 A A is seen to be at right angles to the vertical line B. 



