HORSESHOEING. 119 



Before the shoes are nailed on, the normal punch should be oiled and 

 driven into the calk-holes, and the calks passed into the holes to see that 

 they fit perfectly. 



The calks, whether square or round, are driven into place after the shoes 

 are nailed to the hoofs. A Ught blow is sufficient to fasten a calk, yet a 

 necessary precaution is first to remove every trace of oil from the calks and 

 calk-holes. The first calk driven into place must be held with the hand 

 while the second is being driven, otherwise it will either spring from the 

 calk-hole or be loosened so that it will soon afterwards be lost. 



To remove such a calk we strike its head from different sides with a ham- 

 mer, stone, or other hard object until it becomes loose, when a rather hard 

 blow upon the shoe causes it to spring out. Calks which have worn down 

 are seized by a pair of sharp nippers and loosened by blows upon the shoe. 

 Since a calk which is firm soon rusts and is then very difficult to remove, it 

 is recommended that all calks be removed every night. 



The advantages of peg-calks over screw-calks are : 1. They do not 

 break off. 2. They are easier to make and simpler to use. 3. They are 

 cheaper. 



Disadvantages. — 1. Peg-calks are sometimes lost, even when properly 

 made and most carefully introduced. This evil happens much less fre- 

 quently when the calks are put in by the maker (horseshoer) than when 

 they are stuck in by the coachman, attendant, rider, or other person. When 

 calks are lost on the way from the shop, it is usually due to some fault in 

 the calk-holes or in the calks, although when the feet are balled with snow 

 the calks are easily lost, because they do not then touch the ground. 



2. The removal of the calks often involves many difficulties, since they 

 are apt to rust into place if not removed daily, and when worn down so far 

 that they cannot be grasped with the pincers are almost impossible to re- 

 move. By hammering upon the calks and shoe many horses are rendered 

 not only restive, but sensitive in the feet. To facilitate the removal of the 

 calks, various instruments have been devised, by the use of which the stumps 

 of the calks may be driven from the hoof-surface of the shoe. The use of 

 such instruments presupposes branches which extend backward considerably 

 beyond the buttresses of the hoof. Too long branches are, however, not of 

 advantage, at least for saddle-horses. 



3. If horses are used without the calks, a wire-edge forms around the hole 

 on the bottom of the shoe, which interferes with the placing of the calk and 

 lessens its security. 



4. After many shoes have been punched with the normal punch, its cor- 

 ners become rounded so that it will no longer make a hole which the calks 

 will fit. 



