SHOEING. 



343 



Fig. 460.— Toes too Wide. 



those employed on macadamized roads are better without than with 

 toe-pieces, although the pace at which they are required to go is 

 never faster than a walk. In fact, all horses, when possible, should 

 be shod with a flat shoe. 



Nailing. 



The object of nailing should be to hold the shoe firmly to the 

 foot without injuring the wall, and 

 leave the foot as independent of the 

 restraint of the shoe at the quarters 

 as possible. The nails should be 

 driven where there will be most secure 

 nail-hold ; more or less as well as 

 heavier nails being necessary, in pro- 

 portion to the thickness of the wall, 

 weight of the shoe, and severity of the' 

 work. The wall is thickest and 

 strongest at the toe or front, and be- 

 comes thinner and more flexible to- 

 ward the quarters and heels, especially 

 at the inner heels, where it is sometimes extremely thin and flexible. 

 There has been much speculation during the past few years in 

 relation' to the cause of this quarter's giving out before the other, 

 as nature evidently intended it to stand strain and wear equally with 

 other parts. The cause, undoubtedly, is the interference in its mo- 

 bility by bad-fitting shoes and nail- 

 ing so far back as to interfere with 

 the flexibility of the quarter. This 

 being true, it is evident that the 

 principal nailing should be at the 

 toe and frpnty because there is more 

 horn there to nail to, and less liabil- 

 ity to do harm by separating and 

 breaking the fibers of the wall. 

 They should not extend any farther 

 back into the quarters than is barely 

 necessary to give a safe hold of the 

 shoe to the foot. The fewer and 

 smaller the nails driven, the better, providing they are sufficient to 

 hold -the shoe. But much will depend, in doing this, on the ac- 

 curacy of the fitting, thickness of the wall, and weight of the shoe. 



If the nails are driven well back on the outer quarter, and only 

 round in the toe of the inner side, for the purpose of affording more 



Fro. 461.'— Extreme Toeing In. 



