CHAP. IV.] AND CLENCHING. BAR-SHOE. 513 



clinch be little more than half the usual distance 

 above the shoe. If the nail-holes be punched too 

 near each other, and the driving is performed by a 

 workman who drives and draws his nails, and then 

 peers into the punch- holes, then points his nail and 

 drives again — however well his work may appear 

 when put out of hand, he will but have prepared 

 the hoof for fresh injuries at the next shoeing : v 

 after this treatment has been repeated often, por- 

 tions of the hoof are apt to come away, and the 

 smith is thus compelled to fasten on his defence by 

 the toe, or at the quarters, and so produce fresh 

 offence and incurable lameness. 



Do not nick the hoof, as is too commonly prac- 

 tised, previous to turning the clenches ; as most 

 feet cannot afford to lose even this small modicum 

 of their natural support, and even the stoutest foot 

 ought not to be subjected to the loss of so much of 

 its main strength. Neither rasp off the clinch, by 

 way of finish, for the same reason, but hammer it 

 down like the head of a rivet ; which looks well, 

 and makes a show in the eyes of a customer, who 

 now believes, justly, that he has got something for 

 his money. 



Diseased feet stand in need of various modifica- 

 tions and alterations of the foregoing shoes, of which 

 the form most opposed in principle is the 



Bar-shoe, which is well calculated to prevent that 

 elastic healthy action so much insisted upon as ne- 



z 5 



