EXCESSIVE RASPING BAD. 131 



substance the better to prevent a too rapid evaporation of 

 moisture. If the whole surface of the hoof is rasped, the 

 best part is not only likely to be cut away, but too rapid 

 evaporation takes place, and the hoof is not only thereby 

 weakened, but becomes dry, hard and contracted. If the 

 horse is not used much, and stands on dry plank, this con- 

 dition must be produced. 



(No. 13.) (No. 14.) 



Foot Properly shod, and a foot that has been rasped down too much, in order to 

 fit the shoe, which is too small for it. 



There is a very grave fault in the fitting and nailing of 

 shoes, namely : if they happen to be too short, of setting 

 them well back from the toe, which not only necessitates 

 driving the nails so deep into the hoof as to prick and lame 

 the animal, but also destroys the proportion of the foot by 

 cutting down the toe too much. (See cuts 13 and 14.) 

 Smiths seem to think it necessary to cut the hoof down to 

 the shoe, no matter how far under the shell it may be. 

 This is wrong, as the shoe is now pressing upon and nailed 

 to the inside or soft part of the shell, which of itself leads 

 to soreness and derangement. (See cuts 9 and 10.) In 

 the first place the hoof should not be cut away too much in 

 preparing for the shoe, but should leave plenty of strong, 

 hard horn, through which to nail. In the second place, the 

 shoe should come out even with the hoof; and third, the 

 nails should be driven deep enough to hold firmly. Some 

 shoers have a faculty of going from one extreme to the 

 other by driving the nails so near the outer edge of the 

 crust that there is almost certainty of breaking through. 

 (See cuts 15 and 16.) Illustrative of this see cut 15 ; the 

 hold of the nail is not deep enough; whereas in 16 the nail 

 is started deep and comes out low, getting a good, strong 



