FITTING AND APPLICATION OF SHOES. 77 



The more exactly the shoe fits the foot-surface the 

 more easily it is retained in position by the nails, and the 

 less likelihood there is of any part of it pressing dis- 

 tinctly on a limited portion of horn. Exact fitting 

 allows all bearings and pressures to be distributed 

 equally over the surface of the hoof, and thus permitsi 

 the shoe most nearly to resemble a mere continuation of 

 the hoof in iron — an arrangement to prevent wear, but 

 not to interfere with natural functions. There is on© 

 ileparture from level fitting which requires special notice, 

 since it is made, not by accident or negligence, but by 

 design. It consists in taking the bearing of an inch or 

 an inch and a half of the extremity of the shoe off tha 

 foot. (Fig. 51.) It has been called "easing the heels,'* 



J 



Fig. 51. — An " eased " heel. 



and the space permits a knife-blade, sometimes even a 

 pencil, to be placed between the shoe and the foot. It is 

 one of the very worst practices that theory has forced 

 into horse-shoeing. Men who do it say " the heels won't 

 stand pressure." I reply they will stand all proper pres- 

 sure, and a good deal more than the quarters. But the 

 practice does not relieve the heels of pressure. If you 

 examine a shoe fitted in this way, after it has done a« 

 month's service, you will find it sometimes polished 

 bright, sometimes with a deep groove worn into it. You 

 may also test its bearing by raising the foot from the 

 ground and inserting between shoe and hoof a flat bit of 

 wood, then on releasing the foot and raising the opposite 

 one, you will find that the bearing is such that the bit of 

 wood cannot be removed. The "eased heel "does not 

 relieve the heels of pressure, but, instead of constant 

 normal bearing, it permits a downward movement of the 

 back of the foot at each step — which is unnatural, and 



