142 



SHOEING HORSES. 



or both heels or of quarter-crack, difficulties that have baffled 

 the best students of the foot heretofore to do successfully. 

 In the first place, we see that in trimming and fitting the 

 foot for the shoe, we must be governed by 

 the rule of cutting away only the superfluous 

 horn of the upright shell, and only so much 

 as brings the foot back to its natural shape 

 and bearing, no attention whatever to be 

 given to the frog and sole, and that the hoof 

 must not be cut away enough to permit the 

 possible pressure of the shoe upon the -sole. 

 The object to be attained in the form of the 

 shoe is to carry out as nearly as we can by 

 it the form of the wall, or this bearing sur- 

 face, so as to preserve its freedom and ac- 

 tion most naturally, and afford as nearly as 

 possible the same relation of pressure of 

 the sole and frog upon the ground, and in 

 fitting it to the foot, that it will bear evenly 

 and naturally upon the wall of the hoof all 

 the way round, to prevent any possible 

 bruising of the sole or heels. In nailing 

 the shoe to the foot, first, the shoe must 

 be nailed on strong enough 

 to hold it to the hoof firmly 

 as long as desired, special 

 attention being given to pre- 

 vent splitting or breaking 

 the horn; second, not to 

 bring any restraint upon the 

 quarters, so as to preserve 

 their freedom independent of the shoe, as the 

 foot enlarges with growth; third, that the 

 nails are not driven into the sensitive part 

 of the foot, which would be a direct cause 

 of injury and lameness. In cutting and trim- 

 ming the hoof, be careful not to cut away too 

 much, just so much only as is necessary to 

 bring the foot back to its natural shape and 

 bearing, making an even level surface at least from a sixteenth 

 to an eighth of an inch higher than the edge of the sole. 



(No. 7.) 



View of the foot 

 with the skin 

 and hoof re- 

 moved showing 

 the arteries and 

 some veins of the 

 foot. 



1 Vein. 



2 Plantar artery. 



3 Branches to 

 the coronary sub- 

 stance and laminae. 



4 Posterior divi- 

 sion of plantar ar- 

 tery. 



(No. 8.) 



A view of the foot 

 showing the 

 veins. 



