HORSESHOEING. 591 
when limited to a part of the wall is evidence of previous 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 frog. A 
hoof can not be considered 
healthy if it presents reddish 
discolored horn, cracks in the 
wall, white line, bars, or frog, Fig. 2.—Pair of fore feet of regular form in 
thrush of the frog, contrac- regular standing position. 
tion or displacement of the heels. The lateral cartilages should yield 
readily to finger pressure. 
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 different forms soon shows us, however, that the form of 
every hoof is dependent in great measure on the direction of the two 
pastern bones as viewed from 
in front or behind, or from 
one side; and that all hoofs 
fall into three classes when 
we view them from in front 
and three classes 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 
Fie. 3.—Pair of fore feet of base-wide form in adapted to it, no one who is 
toe-wide standing position. ignorant of, or who disre- 
gards the natural form of, a hoof can hope to understand physio- 
logical shoeing. 
FORMS OF FEET VIEWED FROM IN FRONT AND IN PROFILE. 
Whether a horse’s feet be observed from in front 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. 3), 
or the base-narrow position (fig. 4). 
