THE HOOF. 203 



From many careful measurements of well-formed feet, 

 both in a natural state and when subjected to the influence of 

 shoeing, I have come to the conclusion that the slope of the 

 fore foot, at the toe, should be about 50^^, with a variation, 

 one way or the other, of, say, not more than 3^. The slope 

 of the hoof will conform somewhat to that of the pastern. 

 The outside surface of the hoof should be naturally smooth, 

 and should be straight from the coronet to the ground ; for 

 undue roughness, bulging-out, or concavity of surface will 

 probably indicate the presence or previous existence of disease. 

 The heels should be strong and the "bars'' well developed, 

 so that the proper slope of the foot may be maintained, and 

 that the liability to *' corns" or to contraction of the heels, 

 may be lessened. I may point out that one effect of shoeing 

 in the ordinary manner is to cause the heels to be subjected 

 to more wear than the toes ; for, at the latter part, the 

 position of the iron with regard to the wall is fixed ; but at 

 the former there is a certain amount of *'play'' between 

 the shoe and the horn. Consequently, the tendency of 

 the shod foot will be to acquire a less slope than it ought to 

 have at the toe. This difficulty in preserving the proper 

 shape of the hoof is a troublesome one to every careful and 

 competent shoeing smith. Some horses have such weak heels, 

 that if they wear ordinary shoes, it is impossible to keep the 

 feet at a proper slope, or to prevent them getting corns. The 

 fact of the feet being at a less slope than natural, will cause 

 an undue amount of strain to be thrown on the back tendons 

 (p. 57). I may mention that if the bars be weak in pro- 

 portion to the wall, or if they be cut away, the heels of the 

 shod foot will have a tendency to contract Unusual width 

 between the heels Is generally associated with weakness of 

 those parts. A t the same time they should have no tendency 

 to contraction, which will not be present if the frog, as it ought 

 to be, is well developed. I may remark that an abnormal size 

 of frog, especially if the sole be convex, or even flat, will, as 

 a rule, point to the effects of laminitis (fever of the feet). If, 

 however, the frog is in a healthy state, and if the sole, as it 



