HORSESHOEING. 



103 



without being clearly diseased, have been injured by shoeing. 

 The entire operation requires more circumspection, because it is 

 more difficult. In many cases one will find that the width that 

 has been advised for the outer branch of the shoe at the quarter 

 is not sufficient. Indeed, if a horse has wry feet, and there is 

 unequal distribution of weight within the hoof, and we attempt 

 in shoeing it to follow to the letter the directions given on pre- 

 ceding pages, we would be apt to favor the perpetuation of the 

 defect. In such cases the slant of the wall at the quarters is of 

 the greatest practical value to us in estimating the proper width 

 for the shoe at this point. 



When uniform setting down of the hoof and uniform wear of 

 the shoe are desired, every point in the coronary band in the 

 posterior half of the foot must re- 

 ceive support by the shoe. This ap- 

 plies particularly to the outer halves 

 of hoofs that are extremely base-nar- 

 row. If, for example, the coronet of 

 the outer quarter projects beyond the 

 plantar border of the quarter, the 

 outer branch of the shoe from the last 

 nail-hole back must be kept so wide 

 (full) that an imaginary perpendicular 

 line dropped from the coronary band 

 will just touch the outer border of 

 the shoe. The inner branch, on the 

 contrary, should follow the edge of 

 the wall as closely as possible. Fur- 

 thermore, the new shoe should be 

 given more curve, — that is, made 



wider and fitted more full where the old shoe shows greatest 

 wear. The principal thought should be to set the shoe, which 'should 

 always he regarded as the base of support of the hoof farther to- 

 wards the more strongly worn side. Such a practice renders super- 

 fluous the wide-spread and popular custom of bending outward 



Left hind shoe with a broad, base- 

 wide outer branch for draught- 

 horses that stand markedly base- 

 narrow (close behind). 



