FORM AND ACTION OF THE FOOT. 29 



x>i its extremity has no contact with, the hoof, you "will 

 find that, when weight is rested on that foot, the horn, 

 yields downwards and comes in contact with the shoe. 

 This simply demonstrates that, when there is nothing ta 

 support it, the horn at the heels may be forced down- 

 wards. It is not a normal action, and in an unshod foot 

 cannot occur on a level surface. The effect of this down- 

 ward movement of the heels is to put a strain on the 

 horn of the quarters. A shoe so fitted as to permit this 

 evil is in common use, and no fault is more serious than. 

 thus forcing an unnatural action upon the hoof at every 

 fitep. "With unintentional irony, this iDiece of bad work 

 has been called " easing the heels." 



In concluding this chapter, I would just repeat that 

 the natural bearing surface of the horse's foot is the 

 lower edge of the wall and that portion of the sole 

 immediately in union with it; that the arch of the sole 

 should not be in contact with the ground; that the frog 

 ought to have a bearing on the ground, but ought not to 

 be so prominent as to unduly share in sustaining weight. 

 This natural bearing surface is what we want to utilize 

 in shoeing. We put on a shoe merely to prevenl excessive 

 wear of the hoof. If we can protect the wall, the frog can 

 take care of itself, and we have only so to apply our 

 shoe that we do not damage any useful structure or 

 interfere with any natural function. 



Note. — No person is expected to learn the structure of a foot 

 entirely from this description. He must obtain two feet cut off at 

 the fetlock joint. One he should soak in water till the hoof can be 

 pulled off. The sensitive foot is then visible and the inside of the 

 hoof ; with these before him, the drawings and descriptions in this 

 chapter will be of great assistance. The second foot he should have 

 sawn vertically down the middle through the point of the toe, and 

 again across the quarters, so as to show the inside of the foot from 

 two different points of view; this will afford a view of the relation, 

 of parts. 



