350 THE UNILATERAL SHOE. 



cases, an evident contraction of the hoof. There was an altera- 

 tion in the manner of going. The step was shortened, the sole 

 was hollowed, the frog was diseased, the general elasticity of the 

 foot was destroyed — ^there was a disorganization of the whole 

 horny cavity, and the value of the horse was materially dimin- 

 ished. What was the grand cause of this ? It was the restraint 

 f the shoe. The firm attachment of it to the foot by nails in 

 ach quarter, and the consequent strain to which the quarters 

 and every part of the foot were exposed, produced a necessary 

 tendency to contraction, from which sprang almost all the mala- 

 dies to which the foot of the horse is subject. 



The unilateral shoe has this great advantage : it is identified 

 with the grand principle of the expansibility of the horse's foo+, 

 and of removing or preventing the worst ailments to which the 

 foot of the horse is liable. It can be truly stated of this shoe, 

 that while it affords to the whole organ an iron defence equal to 

 the common shoe, it permits, what the common shoe never did or 

 can do, the perfect liberty of the foot. 



We are enabled to present our readers with the last improve- 

 ment of the unilateral shoe. 



Fig. 51. 



The above cut gives a view of the outer side of the off or 

 right unilateral shoe. The respective situations of the five nails 

 will be observed ; the distance of the last from the heel, and the 

 proper situations at which they emerge from the crust. The two 

 clips will likewise be seen — one in the front of the foot, and the 

 p*hp» n the side between the last and seconr) nail 



