ON THE CONFORMATION OF HORSES. 
191 
this apparent contraction, yet is it weight which is the immediate 
cause, and this it is that renders contraction always most difficult 
to remove in a heavy horse. In a horse which turns his toes out , 
the inner heel or quarter appears contracted, and more worn ; that 
is, it is below the level of the other; and if we attempt to keep it 
level with the outer quarter we shall assuredly increase the con- 
traction, by causing the imposition of more weight upon it. This 
may be easily shewn by letting in a portion of a shoe into the 
hoof at the inner quarter only, leaving the rest of the foot at 
liberty ; when we shall find, that, if we have not lameness, we 
shall have a greater degree of contraction ensuing, from the animal 
not being able to wear down the inside, from its being protected 
by the iron, so freely as before ; and hence, from that quarter of 
the foot receiving more weight, the contraction becomes greater, 
and the shelving of the opposite quarter will in the same ratio be 
increased ; and the only means to get rid of the contraction, is to 
free the quarter, and not to prevent this wearing down of the hoof. 
This experiment I have tried practically scores of times. 
6th Class of Conformation. Under this head I comprise 
the mule, zebra, wild ass, and young domesticated ass. These 
animals strikingly exemplify the laws of conformation on the 
shapes of hoofs. For instance ; in those mules which follow most 
the character of the horse formation, the hoofs sometimes shelve a 
little ; whereas, in mules which partake most of the character of 
the ass formation, the hoofs shew no disposition to shelve. The 
wild and domesticated ass have always the cylindrical hoof. 
Although there are only six classes of conformation specified by 
me as having hoofs consonant with these attributes, characteristics, 
&c. &c., yet there are innumerable varieties of shapes which 
require practice to familiarise us with. As a general rule, we shall 
find the lowest level of the sensible parts (that is, we should 
soonest reach blood by paring the foot) at the point opposite to 
where the shelving takes place, or where there is no shelving, at 
the toe. In the general formation of the colt’s foot we have a 
slight shelving on the outer quarter, from the weight being sup- 
ported more on the inside, from that quarter being more under the 
centre of gravity ; and this is provided for by the peculiar ana- 
tomical formation of the knee-joint. The same remarks apply to 
the hind foot and the hock; and these are things which should not 
be overlooked in practice ; for if such peculiar formation of the foot 
were not necessary, Nature, which supplies nothing superfluous, 
would not have granted it. 
In the first variety of Hoofs, the lowest level of the 
sensible foot is at the inside toe, and the highest at the inside heel. 
In the second variety, the lowest level of the sensible parts is at 
