PART II. 



CHAPTER I. 

 SHOEING HEALTHY HOOFS. 



A. Examination of a Horse Preliminary to shoeing. 



An examination should be made while the animal is at rest, 

 and afterwards while in motion. The object of the examination 

 is to gain accurate knowledge of the direction and movements of 

 the limbs, of the form and character of the feet and hoofs, of the 

 manner in which the foot reaches and leaves the ground, of the 

 form, length, position, and wear of the shoe, and distribution of 

 the nail-holes, in order that at the next and subsequent shoeings 

 all ascertained peculiarities of hoof-form may be kept in mind 

 and all discovered faults of shoeing corrected. 



The examination is best conducted in the following order: 

 The horse should first be led at a walk in a straight line from the 

 observer over as level a surface as possible, then turned about 

 and brought back, that the examiner may notice the direction of 

 the limbs and the manner in which the hoofs are moved and set 

 to the ground. While the animal is moving away the observer 

 notices particularly the hind limbs, and as it comes towards him 

 he examines the fore-limbs. Then a few steps at a trot vdll not 

 only show whether or not the animal is lame, but will often 

 remove all doubt in those cases in which, while the animal was 

 walking, the examiner was unable to make up his mind as to 

 which was the predominating position of the limb. The problem 

 presented is, therefore, to determine whether or not the direction 

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