631 



cause it to shrink, dry, and harden, and at once lose those very attri- 

 butes which constitute its usefulness to the foot. Robbed of its elasticity 

 and resilience, it is incapableof discharging its allottedfuuctious— both 

 a3 a cushion and as an expander it is a dead failure; indeed it is worse, 

 as in its altered character if; is now a menace instead of a protection, 

 a bane rather than a boon to the foot that wears it. 



The destruction of this important factor having been thus provided 

 for, the operator probably next turns his attention to the sole, which, 

 by all traditions of the craft, must bo pared down until only a tnin film 

 of soft, partially formed horn is left to protect the living structures 

 within against injury from the substances with which the foot neces- 

 sarily comes in contact. Nor does the mischief stop here. The sole 

 itself, or what is left of it, consists now of soft, moist, half-formed horn, 

 which dries and shrinks on exposure to the air, and thereby entails a 

 further and a still more serious injury on the foot. 



We have seen in the preceding chapters how the sole is secreted by 

 the velvety tissue dependant from the membrane which invests the 

 pedal bone, the minute, hollow, fibrous processes of which penetrate it 

 and minister to its support. In the mutilated, shrunken sole these 

 delicate fibers are pinched in the lessened caliber of the pores; the 

 source of supply is cut off, and the process of repair retarded if not ab- 

 solutely arrested. There seems to be a fascination about this work of 

 destruction, and the incompetent workman next addresses himself to 

 the self-imposed task of improving upon nature by removing the bars 

 and what he calls, on the Incus a non lucendo principle, " opening" the 

 heels, a process which, in plain language, means opening a road for 

 them to close over. On this poor, maimed foot a shoe, often many 

 sizes too small, is tacked, and the rasp is most likely called into requi- 

 sition to reduce the foot to fit the shoe; for although it is apparently of 

 little moment whether the shoe fits the foot, it is indispensabl3^ neces- 

 sary that the foot should, somehow or other, be got to fit the shoe, and 

 horseshoeing, like other arts, must needs sacrifice on the altar of ap- 

 pearances. It is sad that art and nature should so often be at vari- 

 ance, and that what satisfies the one should outrage the demands of 

 the other. 



The foot is now shod and protected from undue wear, to be sui-e, but at 

 what a sacrifice! Eobbed of its cushion, its natural expander; its lat- 

 eral braces removed ; its sole mangled and its natural repair arrested ; 

 the hairlike fibers which make up the horny wall crushed, deflected, and 

 their nutritive function impeded by an unnecessary number of nails; 

 robbed by the rasp of its cortical layer of natural varnish, which retains 

 the moisture secreted by the economy, the strong walls become desic- 

 cated and weakened, and the foot is in a very sorry plight indeed. To 

 some this picture may seem overdrawn, but it is nevertheless a matter 

 of daily occurrence. 



Of course, even among agricultural horses, there are individuals which 



