578 DISEASES OF THE HORSB^ 



PREPARATION OF THE HOOF FOR THE SHOE. 



After raising the clinches of the nails with a rather dull clinch- 

 cutter (" buffer ") and drawing the nails one at a time, the old shoe is 

 critically examined and laid aside. Kemaining stubs of nails are then 

 drawn or punched out and the hoof freed of dirt and partially de- 

 tached horn. The farrier has now to " dress " the overgrown hoof to 

 receive the new shoe ; in other words, he has to form a base of support 

 so inclined to the direction of the pasterns that in motion this surface 

 shall be set flat upon the ground. He must not rob the hoof nor 

 leave too much horn; either rrfistake may lead to injury. If he has 

 made a careful preliminary examination he knows what part of the 

 wall requires removal and what part must be left, for he already 

 knows the direction of the foot-axis and the wear of the old shoe, and 

 has made up his mind just where and how much horn must be re- 

 moved to leave the hoof of proper length and the foot-axis straight. 



A greatly overgrown hoof may be quickly shortened with sharp 

 nippers, and the sole freed of semidetached flakes of horn. The con- 

 cave sole of a thick-walled, strong hoof may be pared out around the 

 point of the frog, but not so much as to remove all evidences of ex- 

 foliation. The wall should be leveled with the rasp till its full 

 thickness, the white line, and an eighth of an inch of the margin of 

 the sole are in one horizontal plane, called the " bearing surface of 

 the hoof." The bars if long may be shortened, but neve?' pared on the 

 side. The branches of the sole in the angle between the bars and the 

 wall of the quarters should be left a little lower than the wall, so as 

 not to be pressed upon by the inner web of the shoe. " Corns," or 

 bruises of the pododerm, are usually a result of leaving a thick mass 

 of dry, unyielding horn at this point. The frog should not be 

 touched further than to remove tags or layers that are so loose as to 

 form no protection. A soft frog will shorten itself spontaneously 

 by the exfoliation of superficial layers of horn, while if the frog is 

 dry, hard, and too prominent it is better to soften it by applying 

 moisture in some form, and to allow it to wear away naturally than 

 to pare it down. It is of advantage to have the frog project below 

 the level of the wall an amount equal to the thickness of a plain 

 shoe, though we rarely see frogs of such size except in draft horses. 

 The sharp lower border of the wall should be rounded with the rasp 

 to prevent its being bent outward and broken away. Finally, the 

 foot is set to the ground and again observed from all sides to make 

 sure that the lines bounding the hoof correspond with the direction 

 of the long pastern. 



THE SHOE. 



The shoe is an artificial base of support, by no means ideal, because 

 it interferes to a greater or less degree with the physiology of the 



