OPEN-HEELED SHOES. 



33 



"I know that many smiths are fond of what are called ' open-heeled 

 shoes,' which means shoes with straight heels, wide apart, and pro- 

 jecting beyond the hoof, both behind and at the sides, and the only 

 reason I have ever heard in favor of such shoes is a very bad one, 

 ^'iz. : that the horse requires more support at the heels than he gets 

 from the hoof. But you may depend upon it that nature has made 

 no mistake about it ; and if the horse ideally wanteJ more support 

 than he gets from the heels of the hoof, he would have had it. But 

 I think I shall prove to you that this kind of a shoe, instead of 

 being a benefit to the horse, is a positive evil to him ; it interferes 

 with his action, and exposes his sole and frog to serious injuxy from 

 stones in the road, and the projecting portions of the shoe become 

 ledges for stiff gi-ound to cling to and pull the shoe off. More shoes 

 are lost tlu-ough this mischievous projecting at the heels than from 

 all other causes put together. 



" Let us see how it is that these projecting heels interfere with the 

 horse's action. It is not necessary for this purpose to trouble you 

 v,4th the anatomy of the foot, but merely to state that all its parts 

 are joined to each other in such a manner as to form one great 

 spring, and that the foot is joined to the leg by the pastern and 

 coronet bones, in a direction slanting forw-ard, which brings the foot 

 a little in advance of the leg, and places the heels in front of a line 

 dropped fi'om the centi-e of the fetlock joint to the ground : 



