HORSESHOEING. 



591 



when limited to a part of the wall is evidence of pi'evious local 

 inflammation. The bulbs of the heels should be full, rounded, and 

 of equal height. The sole (fig. 1) should be well hollowed out, the 

 white line solid, the frog well developed, the middle cleft of the 

 frog broad and shallow, the spaces between the bars and the frog wide 

 and shallow, the bars straight 

 from the buttress toward the 

 point of the frog, and the 

 buttresses themselves so far 

 apart as not to press against 

 the branches of the fiog. A 

 hoof can not be considered 

 healthy if it presents reddish 

 discolored horn, cracks in the 

 wall, white line, bars, or frog, 

 thrush of the frog, contrac- 

 tion or displacement of the heels, 

 readily to finger pressure. 



Fio. 2. — Pair of fore feet of regular form In 

 regular standing position. 



The lateral cartilages should yield 



VARIOUS FORMS OF HOOFS. 



As among a thousand human faces no two are alike, so among an 

 equal number of horses no two have hoofs exactly alike. A little 

 study of difl'erent forms soon shows us, however, that the form of 

 every hoof is dependent in great measure on the direction of the two 



pastei'n bones as viewed from 

 in front or behind, or from 

 one side; and that all hoofs 

 fall into three classes when 

 we Aiew them from in front 

 and three clas.ses when we ob- 

 serve them in profile. Inas- 

 much as the form of every 

 foot determines the peculi- 

 arities of the shoe that is best 

 adapted to it, no one who is 

 ignorant of, or who disre- 

 gards the natural form of, a hoof can hope to understand physio- 

 logical shoeing. 



FORMS OF FEET VIEWED FHOM IN FRONT AND IN PROFILE. 



Fig. .S.- 



-Pair of fore feet of base-wide form in 

 toe-wide standing position. 



Whether a horse's feet be observed from in fr<mt or from behind, 

 their form corresponds to, or at least resembles, either that of the 

 regular position (fig. 2), the base-wide or toe- wide position (fig. ?>), 

 or the base-narrow position (fig. 4). 



