110 THE ART OF HORSE-SHOEING. 



Convex Soles. — The sole of the foot should be con- 

 cave, hut as the result of disease many feet become con- 

 vex. This bulging or " dropping^" of the sole varies in 

 degree from a little more than flat to an inch or so below 

 the level of the wall. When the under-surface of a. 

 horse's foot resembles in form the outside of a saucer, 

 fitting a shoe becomes a work of art. Very often the 

 wall is brittle and broken away, and it is most difficult . 

 to find sufficient bearing-surface on the foot for a shoe. 

 Many of these feet may be safely shod with a narrow 

 shoe that rests only on the wall and the intermediate 

 horn between the wall and sole. Such a shoe may, 

 according to the size of the foot, be five-eighths or even 

 three-quarters of an inch wide. Its thickness is to be 

 such as will prevent the sole taking any direct bearing 

 on the ground, and sometimes a shoe of this form is 

 much thicker than it is wide. The advantage of this 

 shoe is that it is so narrow that any bearing on the sole 

 is avoided. The disadvantage is that on rough roads the 

 sole may be bruised by the flint or granite stones. When 

 the horn of a "dropped" sole is very thin, or when the 

 horse has to work on roads covered with sharp, loose 

 stones, some cover for the sole is necessary, and the 

 nai-row shoe is not practicable. To provide cover for the 

 sole, the web of the shoe has to be wide, and therefore 

 the foot-surface of the shoe must be seated out, so as to 



Improper bearing-surfafe. Fia. 81. A level bearing-surface. 



avoid contact with the sole. Too often the seating is 

 continued from the inner to the outer border of a shoe, 

 so that no level bearing-surface is provided for the wall 

 to rest on. This kind of shoe is like the hollow of a 

 saucer, and, when applied to a foot, is certain to causo 

 lameness sooner or later. Each time the horse rests his- 

 "weight on it the hoof is compressed by tlie iiudiiuMl snr- 

 faco of the shoe, which, instead of providing a firm. 



