738 SHOEING. 



course, liable to waste away from, want of use; and it may be 

 strengthened and enlarged by being well exercised, thougb not by 

 any mechanical contrivances for opening it out. 



The Shoe. 



The following considerations should determine the shape of the 

 shoe: — 1st. The foot-surface of the shoe should be flat, as in a 

 concave shoe (Fig. 192), so that the outer portion of the sole may 

 aid the wall in bearing weight. Seated shoes, namely, those which 

 are bevelled on the foot-surfaxje (Figs. 193 and 194), are, for 

 ordinary work, wrong in principle, and were invented in those 

 barbarous times when it was considered correct to pare the sole 

 so thin, that it would yield to the pressure of the thumb; hence, 

 under this system, all weight had to be taken off the denuded 

 sole. The bevelling of a seated shoe may be utilised for applying 

 remedial agents to the sole in cases of disease or injury. 



Fig. 192.- through Fig. 193.— .jh 



a concave shoe. a. seated shoe. 



The use of seated shoes, especially when the heels are allowed 

 to grow too long, increases the liability of the shod foot to " pick 

 up a stone,'' by leaving an over-hanging edge of iron on the outer 

 side of the depression between the heel and frog. Such an accident 

 is almost impossible with a concave shoe (ordinary himting shoe) 

 attached to a properly-prepared foot. If the sole has been thinned 

 and the bars cut away, the picking up of a stone is apt, particularly 

 when trotting down hill in harness, to cause the horse to stumble 

 and fall by the painful pressure produced on that part of the 

 weakened sole which is in contact with the stone, when the animal 

 puts weight on the foot. I have proved experimentally that, under 

 ordinary circumstances, picking up a stone (supposing seated shoes 

 are worn) will seldom cause a horse to go lame, provided that the 

 sole and bars have not been mutilated. The extreme frequency 

 of this accident being followed by lameness, shows that blacksmiths 

 as a rule make far too much use of the drawing knife on the sole 

 and bars. 



2nd. In order that the frog may bear weight, the shoe should 

 generally be as thin as practicable, consistent with its standing 

 wear and retaining its shape. 



