94 PBOTECTION OF FOEE TOOT. 



the shoes were so prepared. The way in which the farrier is 

 to proceed with the shoe is as follows. It is first to be fitted 

 uniformly to the crust ; it is then to be placed upon the anvU 

 with the foot surface downwards, and gently struck across the 

 middle, just to give the necessary bend to the iron. The slight 

 inflexion thus given does not in the least alter the even bearing 

 of the crust : it simply allows of greater freedom of motion to 

 the foot. 



Dbgeee oe Cotee neoessaet to the !Foee Peet. — The 

 extent of cover, or protection which the fore feet may require 

 from the shoes, will depend upon the size of the animal, as well 

 as upon the size and peculiarities of the feet. Large sized 

 horses, and those having large feet, will naturally require a 

 heavier shoe, and one possessing greater breadth upon its 

 ground surface, than small horses having proportionately small 

 feet. Thin flat-soled feet require more cover of shoe than 

 those having concave, strong, well formed soles. The former 

 are more liable to sufier from irregularities of the road, so that 

 a greater breadth of shoe is necessary to afibrd protection to the 

 sole. This is a question, however, so easy at all times to deter- 

 mine, that it is unnecessary to dwell further upon it. 



Fit of the Shoe. — The shoe ought to fit the foot. This 

 is so obvious, that it may almost be considered a self-evident 

 truism ; but however true abstractedly, it is very far from being 

 trite in practice. Thousands of feet are made to fit the shoes, 

 rather than the shoes made to fit the feet, and thousands of 

 horses are rendered lame in consequence. A careful attention, 

 however, to the previous remarks with respect to the paring 

 and rasping of feet, will fully enable the reader to judge as to 

 whether a farrier, when shoeing a horse, is fitting the shoe to 

 the feet, or the feet to the shoes. 



