535. 



on oacb foot, wlien shoes weigbiiig lialf as much would serve the pur- 

 pose equally well. The lamentably short career of our city draft horse, 

 which is usually determined by foot lameness of one kind or another, is 

 hirgely attributable to the aggravated amount of battering on hard 

 pavements which his ueedless weight of armament entails. 



The upper surface of the shoe should be perfectly level. If the plane 

 of the web inclines from outside inward, it greatly adds to the unavoid- 

 able tendency to contraction which shoeing invariably entails, and there 

 is a wealth of unwisdom in most of the clumsy attempts at mechanically 

 spreading the heels by making the inclination in the contrary direction^ 

 It is true that in cases of malformation, or grave alteration of the con- 

 tour of the foot, good results are obtainable by this or other mechanical 

 means, but all such heroic remedies should be undertaken only at the 

 instance and under the immediate supervision of the veterinary prac- 

 titioner 5 otherwise they are liable to do harm instead of good. 



In France dilatation of the hoof by mechanical means is advocated and 

 practiced more than elsewhere, but the operation is performed with the 

 utmost exactitude, scrupulous care and delicacy, and under the closest 

 professional supervision. Even under these favorable conditions the 

 slightest accidental deviation not only defeats the object in view, but 

 occasionally leads to untoward results. When contracted feet have to 

 be expanded there is a far more simple, safe and at the same time effec- 

 tive means of attaining that end to be found within the foot itself. By 

 lowering the walls at the heels, so as to restore frog pressure, the latter 

 speedily recovers its lost characteristics, and in a healthy condition 

 gradually and naturally accomplishes one of the very purposes for 

 which the Great Architect placed it there. 



It would seem to be unnecessary to say that the shoe should be so 

 shaped as to conform exactly to the natural tread of the foot, yet a very 

 common practice obtains of using a shoe of a uniform shape, often less 

 in circumference, if such a term is i^ermissible, than the foot on which 

 it is to bo nailed, and then rasping down the foot to fit it. It is ob- 

 viously easier to make the foot to fit the shoe than it is to make the- 

 shoe to fit the foot ; a stroke or two of the rasp effects the former, but it 

 is a far more arduous undertaking to modify the size and shape of the 

 shoe. The outcome of this pernicious practice is disastrous in the last 

 degree, more especially so in a dry climate like ours, as the walls thus 

 robbed of their natural covering permit the moisture of the foot rapidly 

 to evaporate, and the horn fibers, which make up the outside walls, 

 instead of being compactly knit together, readily disintegrate, and in 

 the course of a shoeing or two those very jiortions in which the nails 

 should obtain firm hold possess little more adhesion than a bundle of 

 broom corn. If the shoe fitted as it ought to do, a touch of tlie rasp 

 under each clinch would be all that was necessary, and even this much 

 might advantageously be dispensed with. Plate xxxxiv illustrates 

 correct and incorrect fitting, figure 1 being the right and figure 2 the 

 wrong way. 



