The Foot — Its Care and Shoeing. 107 



corns are usually found; these inturned portions of the 

 wall are called "the bars" and act as braces to the foot, 

 consequently they should not be cut any lower than is 

 absolutely necessary. The outer surface of the wall is 

 rounded and covered by its protector, the hoof varnish 

 (periople) which should not be removed by the rasp, 

 such removal exposes the horn to the softening, drying 

 and destroying influences of the weather, the horn of the 

 wall is not meant to be soft, it has to bear weight, on the 

 other hand it is not improved by a drying out process of 

 which brittleness is the result; it is, however, interesting 

 to note that the feet of horses grown in dry countries are 

 more durable than those of horses raised in wet countries 

 (Points of the Horse, Hayes). The growth of horn is 

 similar to that of plants, excessive moisture being bad 

 for both. The internal surface of the hoof presents from 

 five to six hundred little parallel plates known as the 

 horny or insensitive laminie. The leaves (lainmie) are 

 separated from one another by deep grooves into which 

 fit the corresponding sensitive leaves (laminre). In a 

 groove at the upper part of the wall lies the coronary 

 cushion (band), from it is developed the wall. The infe- 

 rior border of the wall is that part to which the shoe is 

 attached and when unshod is in contact with the ground. 

 The slope of the wall should be that given by an angle 

 of 50° and should conform somewhat to the slope of the 

 pastern; the outer surface of the wall should be smooth 

 naturally, and straight from the coronet to the ground. 



In the show-ring the artifices of the groom often come 

 into play for those horses having a poor or broken wall, 

 in such cases the broken space is filled with wax or the 



