SHOELNG. 14) 
comes bruised between the shoe and the horny sole 
below and the coffin-bone above—the horse soon be- 
comes lame in consequence. It is obvious, therefore, 
that the crust or wall being the natural bearing of the 
horse’s foot, it should be carefully protected, and confine 
the bearing: of the shoe to that part of the foot. A shoe 
of the breadth of the crust would defend the foot sufii- 
ciently as long as it would last; but in consequence of 
its rapid wear, such a shoe would only be applicable for 
racing, or temporary purposes. To give all the sup- 
_port the crust can receive, and at the same time to make 
the shoe sufficiently strong to wear a reasonable time, 
the upper surface of the shoe should be divided into two 
parts. The first or outer margin should be perfectly level, 
and of the width of the crust ; the second, the inner mar- 
gin, beveled inward so as to avoid pressure upon the 
sole, leaving the heels of the shoe perfectly level from the 
last nail-hole backward. It must be borne in mind 
that no one form of shoe is applicable to all forms and 
conditions of the feet. The above shoe is intended only 
for the healthy foot—as it deviates from that standard, 
so must the form and bearing of .the shoe be altered to 
meet the altered conditions as they occur in the horse’s 
foot. To more clearly illustrate this subject is only to 
refer to the injuries of shoeing as ordinarily practiced. 
_Examine, if you please, the ordinary shoe used on all 
occasions, and upon all forms and conditions of the 
feet ; place a level across the heels, and you find the 
shoe at the quarters presents a concave surface, being 
beveled from without inward; hence the foots rests in 
a concavity. When such a phos t is nailed to the foot, it 
presents a lateral resistance to the natural expansion of 
the foot, it being impossible for. the heels to expand 
up these inclined planes; hence the tendency to force 
