STOPFING THE FEET. 366 



STOPPINO THE FEET. 



The general haMt of stopping the feet requires some consider- 

 ation. It is a very good or very bad practice, according to cir- 

 cmnstances. When the sole is flat and thin it should be 

 omitted, except on the evening before shoeing, and then the 

 application of a little moisture may render the paring of the foot 

 safer and more easy. If it were oftener used it would soften the 

 foot, and not only ii;Lcrease the tendency to descent, but the occa- 

 sional occurrence of lameness from pebbles or irregularities of 

 the road. 



Professor Stewart gives a valuable account of the proper 

 application of stopping. "Farm horses seldom require any 

 stopping. Their feet receive sufficient moisture in the fields, or, 

 if they do not get much, they do not need much. Cart-horses 

 used in the town should be stopped once a week, or oftener dur- 

 ing w^inter, and ever}' second night in the hot weeks of summer 

 Groggy horses, and all those with high heels, concave shoes, or 

 hot and tender feet, or an exuberance of horn, require stopping 

 ahnust every night. When neglected, especially in dry weather, 

 the sole becomes hard and rigid, and the horse goes lame, or 

 becomes lame if he were not so before." 



One of two substances, or a mixture of both, is generally used 

 for stopping the feet — clay and cow-dung. The clay used alone 

 is too hard, and dries too rapidly. Many horses have beeii lamed 

 by it. If it is used in the stable, it should always be removed 

 before the horse goes to work. It may, perhaps, be applied to 

 the feet of heavy draiight-horses, for it vsrill work out before 

 much mischief is done.' 



Cow-dung is softer than the clay, and it has this good prop- 

 erty, that it rarely or never becomes too hard or dry. For ordi- 

 nary work, a mixture of equal parts of clay and cow-dung will 

 be the best application ; either of them, however, must be 

 applied with a great deal of caution, where there is any dispo 

 sition to thrush. Tow used alone, or with a small quantity of 

 tar, will ofteii be serviceable. 



If the sole is inclined to be flat, it will be desirable to make the shoe som i 

 what broader in the web, unless a leather sole is used, which for such fee 

 is extremely useful, — indeed a leather sole is at all times desirable during 

 the summer season. It secures the sole from injury from stones, and 

 saves many a fell and broken knee ; it materially lessens concussion, dimin- 

 ishes both the wear of the horn and of the shoe, and keeps applied to the 

 sole a stopping of grease and tar spread on tow, which preserves the horn 

 in a moist and healthy state. It is objectionable for hunters by rendering 

 the shoes more liable to cast ; and if required, on account of lameness, for 

 horses going on the soft ground, it should be merely a narrow rimof leathe' 

 between the bearing part of the shoe and the foot. 



