horses they are the best for summer ; but, as a general 

 thing, I prefer the leather pads I have spoken of for 

 most horses for summer use. The Mooney racing 

 pads are used without bar shoes. 



Some horses, that have excessive knee action and 

 pound the ground hard, need a shoe with fine, sharp 

 toe and heel calks, to break the concussion. To 

 properly shoe a horse with these calks, a flat shoe 

 should be used, with very light, sharp calks ; the 

 calk should be about two inches long at the toe, set 

 well back on the shoe from the toe and perfectly 

 straight across, thereby allowing the horse to break 

 over easy and causing no strain on the tendons; the 

 calks on the heel should be about one inch long, set 

 lengthwise of the shoe. If the horse has to be shod 

 with light shoes or pads, it is necessary to shoe him 

 with bar shoes. Some horses, that have low hock 

 action and are close gaited behind, will slide an inch 

 or two on their hind feet when striking the ground 

 going fast. In such cases I have had the best results 

 by shoeing them behind without calks ; if calks 

 are used, they will prevent the sliding and shorten 

 the stride too much ; but for horses that do not thus 

 slide I prefer to use calks on the hind shoe. 



Nature is more generous with some horses than 

 with others respecting the bestowal of good feet. 

 The perfect forefoot of a horse 15^ hands high 

 should measure about 3^ inches from the coronet 

 to the point of the toe, and stand at an angle of 

 about forty-seven degrees. The heel of the front 

 foot should be about i^ inches long from the coronet 

 to the bottom of the foot. Both the toe and heel of 

 the hind foot should be a shade shorter than the front 

 foot, and the foot should stand at an angle of about 



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