On Shoeing and cutting the Hoof of the Horse, 
83 
We may further assume, that nature, under the ordinary circumstances of 
unshod hoofs, exactly proportions the quantity of horny matter in the fore-part of 
the foot to the quantity in the hind part; and that, where the wear is likely to be 
greatest, there the growth of horn is likewise the greatest and vice versa. 
And we may conclude from these considerations, (although perhaps the mode 
in which the effect is produced may not be palpable,) that while these natural 
proportions are preserved, there will be no change in the form of the hoof, from 
that which nature originally designed. 
As the first stpp, then, towards ascertaining how we ought to treat the horse’s 
hoof, while it is prevented by a shoe from being worn in those parts where wear 
would otherwise have taken place, let us learn, and keep stedfastly in mind, the 
provisions which nature has made for the preservation of these proportions in the 
quantities of homy matter, which are essential to the existence of a perfectly 
formed foot ; and let us then consider, how these measures are counteracted, not 
only by the shoe itself, but by the knife of the farrier who, now that the neces- 
sity for expanded heels is acknowledged, proceeds to effect that object, in appear- 
ance at least, by paring out the inner side of the hinder part of the wall of the 
boof, at that point where the weight of the animal principally rests, and where the 
walls turn forw ard to form what are denominated the bars. 
Amongst a herd of colts running loose in extensive paddocks, we shall find, I 
believe, that iu trimming the hoofs, there is little occasion, in general, for using 
the knife at the toe, that it is at the heel where the farrier has principally to 
work ; this remark applies particularly to horses standing straight on their pas- 
terns, whose hoofs, it is also believed, are generally remarkably wide at the heels. 
Amongst horses in work, whose shoes have not been changed for a considerable 
length of time, we find the reverse to be the case ; and that it is from the toe most 
horn requires to be pared away. 
Amongst the colts, we meet with short toes, sound hoofs, high and expanded 
heels, the bars of the foot well defined, and the frog full and healthy. 
Amongst the shod horses, we find long oval hoofs, narrow and low heels, dis- 
eased frogs, and the hinder part of the base removed to make room, as is suppos- 
ed, for the development of the frog. 
From the above it appears evident, that in shoeing horses a course, with regard 
to the removal of horn, is in general pursued, directly opposed to that which nature 
follows ; and that, in place of being calculated to counteract the evils to be antici- 
pated from stopping altogether the wear in certain parts, where nature has provid- 
ed the means of meeting it, the ordiuary system of shoeing does not even take this 
matter into consideration ; and farther, that it effects a rapid destruction of the 
hoof in those parts, where nature has made no provision for meeting waste 
or wear. 
' From the circumstance of the feet of unshod colts being always found greatly 
worn at the toe, (the truth of which observation may be readily determined by 
reference to the officers in charge of the Company’s Stud Depots,) I infer, that 
the wear at the toe, with young and restless unshod cattle is such, as more than 
to consume all that is provided by nature for meeting the consequent waste of 
horn ; and that although the wear at the heeli«, under these circumstances, com- 
paratively trifling, still such proportions are maintained in the quantities of horn, as 
tend to keep the heels axpanded. From the above, and from the circumstance of the 
hoofs of shod horses always requiring more cutting at the toe than at the heel, 
I again infer, that the growth of horn in that part of the hoof when shod with 
iron is much greater, than is required to maintain the equilibrium, although it is 
barely sufficient to meet the wear to which the unshod hoof would be subject, 
in a state of continual exercise ; and I further infer, that if by any means we 
counteract this wear, and do not, by paring or otherwise, effect its removal, we 
most certainly ensure the accumulation of a preponderating nuws of horn in the 
front part of the foot, to the utter destruction of those proportions, the continued 
existence of which we have assumed, as being necessary for the preservation of that 
form in the hoof, which nature originally designed. 
If then the inevitable consequence of shoeing be, to cause the mass of horn at the 
toe to overpower the mass at the heel, and so (in some manner not perhaps under- 
stood by us) to produoe contraction in the latter ; what might the consequence be 
of still further reducing the mass of horn in the heel, by paring away the after 
part of the bars by cutting the heel low, so 33 to admit of the pressure of the frog 
upon the ground, and by rasping the quarters thin, under the idea that the frog 
will thus be enabled to expand, in consequence of its then meeting with less resist- 
