104 HORSESHOEING. 



the outer quarter and heel-calk of hind shoes. From the manner 

 in which a horse travels and the wear of the old shoe, we esti- 

 mate the distance that the branches of the shoe should be set 

 from the middle line of the hoof. If in following out this plan 

 the bearing-surface of the outer quarter of the wall is not com- 

 pletely covered, the quarter will be pinched and squeezed in- 

 ward ; this should be prevented by a broader branch punched 

 so deeply that the holes will fall upon the white line (Fig. 89). 



When the shoer has satisfied himself that the shoe fulfils every 

 requirement and fits perfectly, it is to be cooled, the holes opened 

 with an oiled pritchel, and the shoe brightened with a file. In 

 filing, all sharp edges should be removed. If a shoe is to be 

 filed upon the outer border, to give it a neater appearance, the 

 filing should be done lengthways of the shoe, and not crossways j of 

 course, the shoe must not be bent by being improperly clamped 

 in the vice. 



It indicates much greater skill in making and fitting shoes 

 when they look clean and finished with little or no filing. 



In the preceding remarks I have insisted upon a horizontal bearing-surface 

 for all shoes, with the single exception of shoes provided with the rolled 

 toe (rolling motion). As far as I can judge from the literature of shoeing, 

 and from what I have seen with my own eyes in many countries, this is the 

 most wide-spread practice. In Germany, on the other hand, there is another 

 method, followed in the military shoeing-shops, which consists in placing the 

 bearing-surface of the shoe as nearly as possible at right angles to the slant of the 

 wall. According to this method the bearing-surface of the shoe, depending 

 upon the direction of the wall (viewed from in front, from behind, and from 

 the side), should incline more or less, now backward, now inward, now 

 horizontal, and now outward. Shoes for wide hoofs are given a bearing- 

 surface which inclines inward, while for narrow hoofs the shoes have a hori- 

 zontal bearing-surface. Shoes for wry hoofs have a bearing-surface which 

 inclines downward and inward for the slanting wall, and for the steeper wall 

 a horizontal bearing-surface, which towards the end of the branch may in- 

 cline slightly downward and outward. Besides, the bearing-surface of the 

 ends of the branches, viewed from the side, has a backward and downward 

 inclination. This method is practicable only in part. 



