14 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
Avaust 6, 1906 - 
Principles of Horseshoeing. 
By Dr. Geo. FIe.pina. 
To ‘keep the foot: healthy and sound — 
the hoof mnst not Le mutilated by knife 
or rasp The well of the hoof is con- 
tinually growing downwards, and would 
grow to an indefinite length if it was not - 
worn by the ground when the horse is in 
an unshod state. In the shod condition 
it grows at about the same rate, but the 
shoe prevents its being worn, and every 
time the horse has to be reshod the 
superfluous horn which has accumulated 
at the lower Lorder of the wail since the 
last shoeing has to be removed by the 
rasp. This is all that is necessary in the 
way of rasping and cutting. 
In reducing the wall to a proper length 
and so preserving the natural angle and 
direction of the hoof, should consist the 
principal item of the farrier’s skill. 
The reduction should be made from the 
lower or ground border of the wall, never 
from the front surface, and reduction 
_ should be so effected as not only to bring 
the hoof to a proper length, but to keep it 
also in proper relation to the direction of 
the limb—that is, the toe must notbe too 
long, the heel too high nor too low, nor 
one side of the foot higher than another. 
The latter condition makes the limb and 
foot appear crooked when looked at in 
front, and strains the ligament and car- 
_tileges on one side of thelimb. Asa 
general rule the wall should be lowered 
to the level of the unpared sole. 
The sole and frog should on no account 
be pared or touched by the knife, nor 
should the heels be opened. The horny 
sole and frog, unlike the wall, do not grow: 
indefinitely, but when they have attained 
a certain thickness they throw off the 
superfluous or old horn in flakes or 
scales. This natural thickness of the sole 
and frog horn is an absolutely essential 
condition for the maintenance of the foot 
_ in health and protection from injury, and 
in proportion as it is dominated by the 
farrier’s knife so will the foot suffer. 
Not only does the solid part play a 
most important part in protecting the 
sensitive parts it covers from injurious 
contact with the ground, or hard bodies 
such as stones, and keep the hoof strong 
and sound, but. the semi-detached flakes 
it is always throwing off render great 
service by acting as so many spring 
shields when the horse’ puts his sole on 
stones or hard, unlevel ground, and also 
by retaining wet, They are a kind of 
natural and ever present stopping, which — 
keeps the horn beneath moist and supple. 
_ Every flake on sole and frog, therefore, is 
valuable, and though these may appear as 
untidy to some eyes as the surface of the — 
oak with its rough bark, yet to deprive — 
them of the dead horn is almost as hurt- 
ful as denuding the tree of its covering, 
“ By leaving the sole and frog unpared the’ 
_ farrier is spared some useless and perni- 
_ cious labor. : 
~ as light as is compatible with a certain 
Salting worn by the horse should be — 
amount of wear, and adapted to the re- 
quirements of the work which the horse 
has to perform: 
I have already given reason why no 
more weight should be added to the end 
of the limb thanvis absolutely necessary, 
in order to diminish the muscular fatigue 
and straining of tendons and ligaments, 
and reduce the number: of nails required 
to secure the shoe to the hoof. Theshoe, 
to be adapted to the various services of 
the horse must be varied more or less in 
form and other particulars. But for the 
fast-going, and especially weight-carrying 
horses, it should not prevent the frog 
resting-on the ground, as it is these 
horses which most frequently suffer from 
1 avicular disease. And even with horses: 
employed in slow draught, it would be 
well if their frogs could be allowed the. 
same privilege, as they would then be 
much less liable to ossification of the 
lateral cartileges of the foot (side) bones. 
Whatever pattern the shoe may assume 
it should not be bevelled on the foot sur- 
face, so as to throw the weight on the 
margin of the foot, and leave a wide space 
between it and the sole. 
The upper or foot surface of the shoe 
ought to be a plain surface, resting alike 
on the wall and the border of the sole, as 
- the latter is well adapted for weight- 
bearing, and the more the weight is dis- 
tributed over the lower face of the hoof, 
the better can the foot perform its func- _ 
tions and retain its soundness, This ap- 
Pe more particularly of course to the 
oot. ad 
Not only does this kind of shoe assist 
the foot better than the bevelled shoe, 
but it prevents suction in heavy ground 
and gives no lodgment to stones, etc., as 
well as yielding other advantages of a less : 
noticeable kind. 
Bnt instead of haying the lower or 
ground face of the shoe quite plane as is 
usually the case, it should be bevelled or 
concave. In fact the best form of shoe is 
undoubteily that which is just the re- 
verse, so far as its surfaces are concerned, 
of that in every day use. With the ground 
face of the shoe concave, a better foot- 
hold is secured and stones are less readily 
picked up. 2 
Calkins for fast-moving horses should 
be dispensed with, if possible; or if they 
must be used they should be low, and of 
the same height on both sides of the shoe. 
If worn by heayy draught horses, they 
ought to be supplemented by a toe pieco — 
at the front of the shoe of the same . 
height as tho calkin. This not only keeps 
the foot level, but greatly assists the 
horse in draught. = fu 
The best time for general manuring is 
from the fall of the leaves.in the autumn 
to the rising of the sap in the spring, and — : 
this is the proper. time for applying all _ 
RUNDLE STREET BAS 
i" KRANTZ Bro 
slow acting manures like stable manures, 
superphosphates, green manuring, ete. 
_ Quick acting manures such as nitrate of 
soda, potash, dried blood, etc., should be 
administered to vines in the spring, when. 
_ the buds are bursting and roots active. 
* 
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