HORSESHOEING. 73 



hoof to the direction of the fetlock axis remain during several 

 months, the portion of wall left too high will grow more rapidly, 

 the walls will lose their natural straight direction and become 

 bent. If, for example, the outer wall has been left too long 

 during a considerable period of time, a crooked hoof results 

 (Fig. 72) in which the rings are placed closer together upon the 

 low (concaye) side than upon the high (convex) side. If for a 

 long time the toe is excessively long, it will become bent ; or if 

 this fault affects excessively high quarters, they will contract 

 either just under the coronary band or will curl forward and 

 inward at their lower borders. These examples are sufficient 

 to show both the importance of the manner in which a horse 

 places his foot to the ground and its influence upon the loading, 

 growth, and form of the hoof. 



Wear of the Shoe and of the Hoof upon the Shoe. 



The wear of the shoe is caused much less by the weight of 

 the animal's body than by the rubbing which takes place be- 

 tween the shoe and the earth whenever the foot is placed to the 

 ground and lifted. 



The wear of the shoe which occurs when the foot is placed 

 on the ground is termed " grounding wear," and that which 

 occurs while the foot is being hfted from the ground is termed 

 " swinging-oflF wear." When a horse travels normally, both 

 kinds of wear are nearly alike, but are very distinct when the 

 paces are abnormal, especially when there is faulty direction of 

 the limbs. While in the majority of horses whose limbs have 

 been stiffened by age and overwork both kinds of wear are most 

 marked at the toe of the shoe, we see relatively fewer cases of 

 " grounding wear" at the ends of the branches (as in laminitis) ; 

 on the contrary, we always notice " swinging- off wear" at the 

 toe of the shoe. It is worthy of notice that length of stride 

 has much to do with the wear. We observe that with shorten- 

 ing of the stride both kinds of wear occur at the toe of the 

 shoe, and this is rapidly worn away, as is the case with horses 



