84 
On Shoeing and cutting the Hoof of the Horse. 
anee from the walls of the hoof ? If the hinder part of the wall of the hoof, and 
the inner part of the bars be cut away, or reduced, one might presume, that a 
contraction or falling in of the quarter would be inevitable ; particularly, it the 
horn at the toe be, at the same time, permitted to spread unworn to an unnatural 
extent • and it appears a gratuitous assumption to suppose, that a tough elastic 
substance like the frog should, under the influence of any pressure from the super, 
incumbent weight of the horse, be capable of forcing asunder piers of solid horn, 
such as exist at the heels of a hoof ; particularly, when these very piers must sustain 
the principal weight of the horse, bearing too upon them in a false direction, as 
must be the case in all contracted feet. 
Expecting to increase the growth of the frog, by cutting away the bars to make 
room for its development, is an attempt to undo what nature has already done,— 
to remedy, in fact, what has already been formed amiss ; and is not an endeavour at 
correcting' a false formation, while’ that formation is in actual progress. For, when 
the fro" and bars of the hoof have grown down to he within reach of the farrier's 
knife their formation has long since been complete ; and no trimming, of either 
tile one or the other, cart be expected to produce any effect, beyond the mere reduc- 
tion of size in that part, on which the knife has been brought to act. But if we take 
the same measures for ensuring open heels which nature follows, by preserving the 
due proportions of horn in different parts of the foot, we shall produce an effect, 
not on a substance already formed, but upon what may be termed an embryo 
substance, the vessels for secreting which will not fail to produce a sufficient 
quantity of proper matter, when the natural performance of their functions is no 
longer interfered with, by the undue pressure of the walls of the hoof. 
To counteract as far as possible the preponderance, as I may say, of the mass of 
horn in the fore part of the hoof, which seems to be the inevitable consequence of us- 
ing shoes, would appear then to be what ought principally to lie held in view, in at- 
taining the object of our pursuit ; and I would recommend, therefore, at the time of 
fixing the shoes, first, that as much as possible should be taken from the length of 
the toe ; then, that the shoe should bo set well back on the horse's foot ; that the 
knife should be used very sparingly in reducing the height of the heel ; and that it 
never should be allowed to touch the hinder part of the wall, or the inner and 
after part of the bars. And as even by these means we may not altogether be 
able to preserve, during the whole interval between shifting shoes, the due pro- 
portion betw een the masses of horn existing in the fore and hind parts of the foot, 1 
would further recommend the free use of the rasp on the front of the wall of 
the hoof. 
It may he objected, that by leaving the heels so high we must place the foot in 
a position for which it was not designed by nature, and that we must thus run the 
risk of injury to the joints, and so forth. But I ask, do we not effect the same thing 
hv permitting an undue growth of horn at the toe, and do we not thus produce an 
evil more to be dreaded than that which is objected to ? We have, in interfering with 
nature, hut a choice of evils allowed us ; and I conceive, that in keeping on the side 
of high heels and short toes we err on the safe side ; for it is against injuries and 
strains in the back sinew, that we require mostly to be on ourguard; and I believe 
it will not be denied, that nothing brings that important tendon more frequently into 
jeopardy than low heels and long toes. Besides, if the objection holds against the 
short toe and high heel at the very time of shoeing, it is to be remembered that it 
will not be found to du so in a fortnight afterwards, on account of the more rapid 
growth of the horn which is proceeding in the fore part of the foot. Whereas, if 
the toot he cut into its proper form at the time of fastening the shoe, we ensure this 
growing evil, that with every successive day the foot will be departing more and 
more from its natural position, by the superior growth of the horn above point- 
ed out. ' f 
II, fiir instance, we put a shoe upon a colt’s foot, which we may suppose to be of 
the form nature designed, and if the shoes are to remain in their place during a 
month ; the proportions of the masses of horn in the fore and hind part of the hoof 
will then he nearly just ; but every day they will be becoming less and less so, 
owing to the superior growth of horn at the toe ; during the second week the dis- 
proportion will have become greater, and during tbe third and fourth, the position 
ot me toot will have been altogether false, thus ensuring during three of thefour 
weeks an unnatural strain on the back sinew, while the mass of horn accumulated 
in the front ot the foot will have become such as completely to destroy that equili- 
brium ot the parts, which we are warranted, I think, in supposing nature designed 
