ON SHOEING. 419 



The quantity of horn to be removed in order to leave the proper degree of 

 thickness will vary with different feet. From the strong foot a great deal must 

 be taken. From the concave foot the horn may be removed until the sole will 

 yield to a moderate pressure. From the flat foot little needs to be pared ; while 

 the pumiced foot should be deprived of nothing but the ragged parts. 



The paring being nearly completed, the knife and the rasp of the smith must 

 be a little watched, or he will reduce the crust to a level with the sole, and thus 

 endanger the bruising of it by its pressure on the edge of the seating. The 

 crust should be reduced to a perfect level, all round, but left a little higher than 

 the sole. 



The heels will require considerable attention. From the stress which is 

 thrown on the inner heel, and from the weakness of the quarter there, the horn 

 usually wears away considerably faster than it would on the outer one, and if 

 an equal portion of horn were pared from it, it would be left lower than the 

 outer heel. The smith should, therefore, accommodate his paring to the 

 comparative wear of the heels, and be exceedingly careful to leave them pre- 

 cisely level. 



If the reader will recollect what has been said of the intention and action of 

 the bars, he will readily perceive that the smith should be checked in his 

 almost universal fondness for opening the heels, or, more truly, removing that 

 which is the main impediment to contraction. The portion of the heels between 

 the inflexion of the bar and the frog should scarcely be touched — at least the 

 ragged and detached parts alone should be cut away. The foot may not look 

 so fair and open, but it will last longer without contraction. 



The bar, likewise, should be left fully prominent, not only at its first 

 inflexion, but as it runs down the side of the frog. The heel of the shoe is 

 designed to rest partly on the heel of the foot and partly on the bar, for reasons 

 that have been already stated. If the bar is weak, the growth of it should be 

 encouraged ; and it should be scarcely touched when the horse is shod, unless it 

 has attained a level with the crust. The reader will recollect the observation 

 which has been already made, that the destruction of the bars not only leads 

 to contraction by removing the grand impediment to it, but by adding a still 

 more powerful cause in the slanting direction which is given to the bearing at the 

 heels, when the bar does not contribute to the support of the weight. 



It will also be apparent that the horn between the crust and the bar should 

 be carefully pared out. Every horseman has observed the relief which is given 

 to the animal lame with corns when this angle is well thinned. This relief, 

 however, is often but temporary ; for when the horn grows again, and the shoe 

 presses upon it, the torture of the horse is renewed. 



The degree of paring to which the frog must be subjected will depend on its 

 prominence, and on the shape of the foot. The principle has already been 

 stated, that it must be left so far projecting and prominent, that it shall be just 

 within and above the lower surface of the shoe ; it will then descend with the 

 sole sufficiently to discharge the functions that have been attributed to it. 

 If it is lower, it will be bruised and injured ; if it is higher, it cannot come in 

 contact with the ground, and thus be enabled to do its duty. The ragged parts 

 must be removed, and especially those occasioned by thrush, but the degree of 

 paring must depend entirely on the principle just stated. 



It appears, then, that the office of the smith requires some skill and judg- 

 ment in order to be properly discharged ; and the proprietor of horses will 

 find it his interest occasionally to visit the forge, and complain of the careless, 

 or idle, or obstinate fellow, while he rewards by some trifling gratuity the expert 

 and diligent workman. He should likewise remember that a great deal more 

 depends on the paring out of the foot than on the construction of the shoe; that 



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