62 
The  City  Dray  Horse. 
Caulkings. — Another  evil  that  horses  have  to  endure  in  all 
the  large  towns  is  the  use  of  caulking.  The  opinions  on  this 
subject  of  two  of  the  leading  veterinary  surgeons  in  Manchester 
and  Liverpool  are  well  worth  mentioning.  Messrs.  J.  & A. 
Lawson  (of  Manchester)  say,  referring  to  caulkings  : “ Horses 
are  undoubtedly  better  without  them,  but  owing  to  the  con- 
dition of  the  streets  they  are  indispensable,  but  we  consider 
they  should  only  be  long  enough  to  ensure  working  with  ease 
and  not  cocked  up  as  a great  many  are  at  the  present  time.” 
Mr.  T.  Eaton  Jones,  veterinary  surgeon  to  the  Liverpool 
Corporation,  says  : “ In  Liverpool  all  working  cart  horses  are 
shod  in  this  manner  (with  caulkings),  for  the  simple  reason 
that  they  would  be  quite  unable  to  retain  their  foothold  and 
perform  the  work  required  of  them  if  they  were  shod  flat. 
Horses  are  shod  either  with  the  rolled  heel  or  with  the  straight 
heel,  the  rolled  heel  simply  being  the  iron  turned  over,  and  the 
straight  heel  being  a sort  of  straight  spike  let  into  the  surface 
of  the  shoe.  Usually  both  heels  in  front  are  rolled,  with  one 
straight  heel  and  one  rolled  heel  on  each  hind  shoe.  The 
straight  heel  is  an  additional  precaution  against  slipping,  as 
sometimes  on  very  wide  setts  the  rolled  heel  would  not  be  of 
much  service.  ^ Spurns,  of  course,  are  also  universally  used 
in  all  big  towns  paved  with  setts.” 
The  general  consensus  of  opinion  on  this  subject  is  that,  in 
the  cities  where  the  blue  “ Penmaenmawr  ” setts  are  used, 
caulkings  are  an  absolute  necessity,  but  at  the  same  time  it  is 
the  greatest  mistake  to  imagine  that  a high  caulking  gives 
a better  grip  than  a moderately  low  one,  and  besides  this,  the 
strain  to  the  horse’s  joints  with  the  high  caulking,  is  more 
severe  than  with  the  low  caulking.  Where  Scotch  granite  setts 
are  used,  just  heels  and  spurns  are  all  that  is  required  for  the 
heavy  loads  which  horses  have  to  draw  in  the  northern  cities, 
where  some  foothold  in  addition  to  that  of  the  ordinary  flat 
shoe  must  be  provided. 
The  pasterns,  if  properly  sloped,  will  take  up  a great  deal 
of  the  concussion  to  the  foot  and  of  the  strain  on  ligament  and 
joint.  Short  stilty  pasterns  with  upright  feet  tend  to  increase 
the  strain  and  jar,  often  leading  to  ringbone  and  other  un- 
soundness fatal  to  city  work.  On  the  other  hand  the  pasterns 
must  not  be  too  long  nor  the  foot  too  flat.  This  latter  formation 
is  undesirable,  as  the  extra  leverage  is  apt  to  throw  too  great  a 
strain  upon  the  tendons,  and  generally  upsets  the  balance  of 
true  conformation  in  the  fore  limb. 
When  walking,  a long  swinging  stride  is  of  the  utmost 
value,  but  high  pounding  action  is  to  be  avoided.  The  hocks 
' A “ spurn,”  sometimes  called  a toe-piece,  is  a flat  piece  of  iron  about 
^ in.  wide  and  deep  welded  on  to  the  road  surface  of  the  front  part  of  the  shoe. 
