CHAPTER VII.Roughing.

Fig. 57.—Toe Clips.

Hot and Cold Fitting.When an engineer or a carpenter has two surfaces to fit together with great exactness he employs some colouring material to show where they do come in contact and where they do not. When a farrier fits a shoe to a horse's foot he tests its adaptation by applying it at a dull red heat to the horn. This proceeding shows with precision the bearing surfaces, as the horn is charred in proportion to the contact. If the shoe be found not to fit exactly, it is taken back to the anvil and altered. It is then again for a few seconds applied to the horn and the surface of contact examined. This proceeding is repeated until sufficient exactness is arrived at and then the shoe is cooled ready for nailing on. As horn is a bad conductor of heat this process of "hot-fitting" does no harm to the sensitive structures within the hoof unless it be carried to an extreme. When the horn is very thin the heat of a shoe retained too long in contact with it does serious mischief, and the injury known as a burnt sole has often resulted from careless work. If a shoe, whilst being altered to fit a foot, were cooled each time it was laid on the hoof, it would have to be re-heated before the necessary alterations could be made and this would cause great waste of time. The abuse of hot-fitting may do harm without any direct burning of the sole. An ill-fitting hot shoe may be held on the hoof until it beds itself into the horn and thus a complete correspondence between the surface of the foot and the surface of the shoe be effected. Such a proceeding is well described as "fitting the foot to the shoe" and is not only destructive to the horn but damaging to the foot by permitting an uneven shoe to look as though it were properly fitting. When hot-fitting is used and not abused—when it is adopted merely to indicate how and where the shoe fits, and not to make it appear to fit—I consider it has many advantages over cold-fitting. With some feet andsome shoes it is quite possible to produce a good fit without heating the shoe. When a shoe requires much alteration to bring it into exact correspondence with the foot, even the most expert farrier cannot do justice to his work with cold iron—he gets as near to a fit as he can and when the hoof is strong little harm is done. The best work is that which includes the greatest exactness of fit, and uneven pressure or loose shoes result from inferior work. A badly fitted shoe requires more nails to retain it in place, and experience has shown that hot-fitted shoes give a smaller average of loose or lost shoes than those cold-fitted. The slight charring of the end of the horn fibres which results from proper hot-fitting has never been found to do injury, and it apparently has some advantages. One is that the surface of the hoof less readily absorbs moisture than when not charred. Another is that the horn is softened for a time and expanded, allowing nails to be easily driven, and then contracting and retaining them more firmly. The objection to hot-fitting applies only to its abuse. The advantages are greater exactness of fit, greater security that the shoe will be firmly retained on the foot, and greater facility in the operation of shoeing. Perhaps I ought to add that when cold-fitting is inevitable machine-made shoes are the best, because they are more regular in form, and more often level on the foot-surface than hand-made shoes. Army studs on active service, and studs used in coal mines comprise, perhaps, the only animals upon which cold-fitting is unavoidable.

Fig. 58.

Tipsare short shoes protecting only the foremost half of the foot. Upon grass or soft roads tips are quite sufficient to prevent undue wear of the hoof. Even upon hard roads tips will protect the hoof in dry weather, but in wet seasons the horn becomes softened, and then that part comingin contact with hard road-surfaces wears rapidly and lameness may follow. Tips require more care in use than shoes because they protect from wear only the toe, and when retained on the foot too long a time cause the hoof to become very disproportionately long at the toe. In fitting a tip care must be taken to afford the horse a level surface to bear on. The unprotected horn at the back of the foot must take a bearing on the ground level with the ground-surface of the tip. If there is sufficient horn on the foot this can be easily effected by only removing the overgrown wall to just the length the tip extends and leaving the horn behind untouched. Where there is not sufficient superfluous horn this method cannot be used, and we apply a tip gradually thinned off towards its hinder extremities. If a little horn can be removed obliquely from the front half of the foot by a few strokes of the rasp this "thinned" tip is more easily fitted so as to get a levelsurface on the ground. When a horse has worn this form for a month it is generally possible to bring a tip, of even thickness throughout, into the same line of bearing as the horn at the heels.

Fig. 59.—Foot prepared for a tip.

Fig. 60.—An ordinary and a "thinned" tip.

Tips do not give a good foot-hold on grass, but they afford greater security of tread on hard smooth roads and on ice than long shoes. The great advantages of tips are two-fold—they are light, and they permit the greatest freedom of movement and action in the posterior part of the foot. In some cases of chronic foot lameness the use of tips and regular work will effect soundness when every other method of treatment has failed.

Fig. 61.—Groove for Charlier shoe formed by cutting away strip of wall.

Fig. 62.—Section of Charlier shoe on foot.

The Charlier Systemis a method of shoeing which a few years ago took a very prominent hold on the fancy of horse-owners. Like every other system it has advantages and disadvantages—it has prejudiced enemies and indiscreet friends. The principle or theory upon which it is based may be thus stated. The lower border of the wall is, it is said, the chief sustaining structure of the hoof, and as all that is required of a shoe is to prevent undue wear, therefore, remove a small strip of the lower border of the wall and substitute for it a similar sized strip of iron, and we shall protect from wear at the same time that we leave entirely to nature every other part of the hoof—sole, frog,and bars. This seems eminently simple and logical, but it is easy to show that it is more plausible than true. First, I would point out that the wallonlyis not the natural sustaining structure of the hoof. The walland the sole at its connection with the wall is. Next I deny that the Charlier system does "leave entirely to nature every other part of the hoof." In cutting away the wall from the sole to affix the shoe, the natural function of the sole is seriously interfered with, and the bearing on the wall which ought to be partially distributed over the arch of the sole is limited to the wall. It is claimed that when the foot has had time to grow the sole will be found on a level with the shoe, and thus directly sharing in the weight-sustaining function. I have examined many feet shod by Charlier specialists, and have never yet seen the sole of a hind foot level with the shoe three days after the shoeing. Only once have I seen the sole of the fore foot level with the shoe after a week's wear. I am often apologetically told, "Well, it is not quite in wear, but it is not an eight of an inch below the surface of the shoe." Quite so, it isnearlyin wear, but if not actually in wear what becomes of the principle? The sole is not directly in wear and bearing is confined to the wall. As to the frog, the Charlier affords no greater use to it than any other shoe of a similar thickness, unless instead of being placed on sound firm horn it be dangerously let down into the hoof so that its edge approaches very closely to the sensitive foot. It is sometimes difficult to arrive at the truthas to the significance of the phrase "embedding or letting down" the shoe of the Charlier system. At one time we are assured that "the shoe is not sunk, the sole is permitted to grow up." When this is so, very little positive objection to the system can be taken, because the shoe then rests at the same level on firm horn as does any other narrow shoe; but then the frog takes no better bearing than in other systems and the superfluous growth of horn on the sole is of no value. When the shoe is really "let down" of course the frog does receive increased pressure—it is forced to share with the wall the primary function of sustaining weight instead of, as in nature, taking only a secondary share of such action. It does this at the expense of a shoe placed so close to the "quick" that if the upper and inner border of iron be not bevelled off, immediate lameness results. When the Charlier shoe was first introduced it was applied the full length of the foot, but it was found that when thinned by wear the heels spread and led to injury of the opposite leg or to its being trodden off. Now the Charlier is only applied like a tip round the front portion of the surface of the foot, and it therefore partakes of some of the advantages I have credited to tips. It is a very light shoe and only requires small nails to fix it securely, but as the shoe is only the width of the wall the nails have tobe driven solely in the wall, and their position is open to the objection applying to all too fine nailing. The disadvantages of the Charlier are its being "let down" too near the quick, its limited bearing, and its fine nail holes; the advantages are the lightness and the freedom given to the back of the foot, both of which are attainable with a narrow tip not let down. One very apparent effect resulting from the use of the Charlier system is the alteration in the action of the horse. All knee action is lost, and some horses go decidedly tender whilst others acquire a low shooting stride, which is certainly not in accordance with our notions of good free locomotion.

Fig. 63.—Groove for modified or short Charlier.

Fig 64.—A Tip laid on, not let down.

In winter, ice, snow, and frost, render roads slippery, and it is necessary to provide some arrangement whereby horses may have the greatest security of foot-hold. In countries such as Canada or Russia, where a regular winter sets in at a tolerably uniform date and continues without intermission for some months, it is easier to adopt a good system of "roughing" than in Great Britain. There, on a thick layer of ice or snow, sharp projections on the shoes cut into the surface and afford foot-hold. The edge of the projections is not soon blunted, and when once properly placed their duration is as long as the time desirable for retaining the shoe. Here, very different conditions obtain. Sometimes a week or two of frost and snow may prevail, but more frequently the spells of wintry weather are counted by days. Two or three days of frost and then two or three days of mud and slush, to be followed by either dry hard roads or a return of ice and snow, is our usual winter. We require during this time to provide for occasional days, or more rarely for weeks, of frost-bound roads. Our horses' shoes wear about a month and then require replacing by new ones. When roads are hard and dry we want no sharp ridges or points about our horses shoes, and yet we must always be able at twenty-four hours notice to supply some temporary arrangement which will ensure foot-hold.

The necessity for "roughing" and the evil effects of continuing to work unroughed horses on slippery frost-bound roads is demonstrated in London every winter by a very significant fact. If after three days of ice and snow, anyone will visit a horse-slaughterers' yard, he will find the place full of dead horses which have fallen in the streets and suffered incurable or fatal injury. A sudden and severe attack of ice and snow half paralyses the horse traffic of a large town for a day or two, and many owners will sooner keep their horses in the stable than go to the expense of having them roughed. The loss in civil life from unpreparedness for ice and snow is veryserious, but the loss which has fallen upon military movements from similar neglect is appalling. Napoleon's rout from Moscow in 1814, Bourbaki's flight into Switzerland in 1871, and the Danish retreat upon Koenigsgratz in 1865 are terrible instances of the frightful loss sustained when horses are unable to keep on their feet at a walk, let alone drag guns and wagons over an ice-covered surface.

Fig. 65.—Frost-nails, various.

A well-managed stud of horses which is required to face all weather and to work every day through an English winter should, from December 1st to March 1st, be shod in such a manner as to be easily and speedily provided with mechanism which will afford secure foot-hold. This may be effected by the use of moveable steel "roughs" or "sharps." Of course the cost is the argument against them, but this should be considered in view of the probability or certainty of loss which will follow from neglect. If we allow common humanity to animals to enter into the consideration, economy will be served by adopting a well arranged system of roughing. Every good horseman appreciates the enormity of over-loading, but neglect of roughing causes just as much cruelty. A horse that on a good road can properly draw aton would be considered over-loaded with two tons, and his struggles to progress would at once attract attention. The same animal with half a ton on an ice-covered surface would suffer more exhaustion, fatigue, and fright, and run more risk of fatal injury than in the case of the over-loading, but his owner who would indignantly repudiate the one condition will designedly incur the other.

Probably this is only thoughtlessness, but it is a reflection on the prudence of a manager, and certainly not flattering to the feelings or intelligence of a man.

There are many ways of providing foot-hold for a horse on ice and snow. The most simple and temporary proceeding is to use frost-nails.Fig. 65shows various sizes and shapes of these articles.

They are not driven through the hoof like ordinary nails, but through the shoe only, which is prepared for their reception at the time of fitting. A shoe to carry frost-nails is fitted a little wider than usual at the heels and has at its extremities, or more often at its outer extremities, countersunk holes stamped and directed outwards so that the frost-nail can be safely driven through by anyone and its shank turned down over the shoe. There is a difficulty in firmly securing them, they are apt to work loose and then become bent and useless. If used on the inside heel of a shoe they constitute a danger to the opposite leg should they bend and protrude from under the shoe. As a temporary provision against a sudden frost or fall of snow they are useful—but they are only a make-shift.

The more permanent and effective system of "roughing" consists in removing the shoes and turning down a sharp chisel projection at the heels. In very bad weather a projecting edge is also laid across the toe of the shoe.

Fig. 66.—Heels of Fore and Hind Shoes, sharped.

The diagrams show the method of "sharping" a front and hind shoe at the heels only. The hind shoe, having calkins,is not much altered. The smith simply converts the square calkin into a sharp-edged one. The fore shoe having no calkins is turned down at the heels to afford enough iron to form the 'sharp.' But this shortens the shoe, and if it be repeated two or three times, as it often is, the bearing surface is spoiled, and the slightest carelessness in fitting the shoe causes a bruised heel. 'Roughing' is generally done in a hurry. A dozen horses reach the farrier's shop at one time and all desire to return to work with as little delay as possible. The work is perforce hurried through, careful fitting cannot be done, and bad-footed horses suffer accordingly. The dotted lines inFig. 66show the original length of shoe, and the shortening which results from a second roughing.

All horse-owners know how many lame horses result from the repeated roughings necessitated by a week or two of wintry weather. Some of this is inevitable from the rush and hurry which cannot be prevented. Valuable horses with weak feet should not be submitted to any such risk. They should be shod with removable sharps. The mere fact of removing a horse's shoes perhaps five or six times in a month must injure the hoof. Add to this the shortening of the shoe, the raising of the heel by the roughing, and the irregular bearing due to hurried fitting and we have conditions which only the very strongest feet can endure without serious injury.

Fig. 67.—Toe Sharp.

For heavy draught horses, and for all where the roads are hilly, the toes as well as the heels must be 'sharped' when ice and snow are firm on the surface.Fig. 67shows this arrangement at the toe. The removable steel "sharps," of whichI have spoken, are certainly the least objectionable method of providing foot-hold in winter. They are made in various sizes to suit all kinds of shoes. They vary in shape somewhat, but their form is more a matter of fancy than utility. One in each heel of a shoe is the usual number used but if snow and ice are plentiful and the roads hilly two additional "sharps" may be placed at the toe of the shoe.

Fig. 68.—Removable Steel Sharp.

Fig. 69.—Steel Sharps, screw.

At the time of fitting the shoes, holes are made by first punching a round hole through the heels—and through the toe if desired—then the hole is 'tapped' and a thread formed to fit it in the shank of the sharp which is to fill it. If the sharps are not immediately wanted the holes may be filled with corks to keep out the grit and dirt. When corks are used the wear of the shoe causes a burr to form round the edge of the hole, and before the sharp can be screwed in a "tap" must be worked into each hole to clear the thread. One great objection to this method is that as the shoe wears it becomes thinner, and if much worn the shank of the"sharp" may be too long, and when screwed home cause pressure upon the hoof and consequent lameness. To guard against this steel "blanks" are used to preserve the holes, and when a frost comes they are removed and the "sharps" put in.

The blanks vary in height and of course those least in height are best for the horse's action, but they must not be allowed to get so worn that it is impossible to remove them. These blanks are shown below.

Fig. 70.—Blanks, screwed.

Fig. 71.—Steel Sharps and Blank, Plug shanks.

The "tapping" and "screwing" of shoes is expensive, and in small shops must be done by hand. In large shops a gas engine and a machine would reduce the cost very greatly, and if the system came into general use this method of providing against frost-bound roads could be carried out at much less cost than now. With a view to economy and simplicity a sharp has been invented which requires no screw. The shank may be either round or square. A hole is punched in the heel of the shoe and carefully gauged to the size of the shank of the "sharp." The sharp is then put in and a tap of the hammer secures it. The difficulty is to get the hole in the shoe and the shank of the sharp of corresponding form and size. When this is done the sharpkeeps its place and is not difficult to remove. Too often, however, they are not uniform, and then the sharp falls out or sometimes cannot be removed. When the holes are drilled instead of punched the fit is more exact, but this only applies to those with a round shank. A slight taper is given both to the hole and the shank of the "sharp." As with the screw sharps so with these, blanks are used to keep the holes open until the road-surface requires the sharp.

Fig. 72.—Steel Taps for screwing shoes.

No sharps should be left in shoes when the horses are stabled at night, as serious injuries to the coronet may result from a tread by the opposite foot. The coachman or horse-keeper must be supplied with a spanner to remove the screws, and with a tap to clear the holes if blanks are not used.

For roads not badly covered with snow and ice, sufficient security is afforded by some forms of india-rubber pads, which will be described in a future chapter.

Even with the most careful farrier injury may occur during shoeing, or may arise as the result of the operation. Sometimes the foot, from its condition or form, renders an accident possible, and it may be so diseased, or defective, as to render shoeing with safety very improbable. Sometimes the shoe is to blame, and sometimes the nail or clip. A few words about each of the common injuries may be useful as helps to their avoidance or as guides to their remedying.

From nailstwo kinds of injury may result. The most common arises from the nail being driven too near the sensitive parts, and is known as abind. The nail does not really penetrate the sensitive foot, but is so near as to press unduly upon it. This condition causes lameness, which is generally not noticed till a day or two after the shoeing. It is readily detected by the farrier on removing the shoe and trying all the tracks of the nails in the hoof by pressure with pincers. When the lameness is slight removal of the nail and one or two days rest are all that is required. When the lameness is great it may be suspected that the injury has caused the formation of matter within the hoof. This must, of course, be allowed to escape, and the services of a veterinary surgeon are advisable.

Any neglect in these cases, such as working the horse after lameness has appeared, or delay in removing the offending nail, may lead to very serious changes in the foot, or even to death of the horse.

Another injury caused by nails is from a direct puncture of the sensitive foot. This may be slight, as in cases where the farrier in driving the nail misdirects it and so stabs the sensitive parts, but immediately withdraws the nail knowing what has happened. The lameness resulting from this is usually slight. Very much more serious is the lameness resulting from a nail which pierces the sensitive foot and is not recognised at once by the farrier. As a rule, lameness is immediate, and should the horse perform a journey before the nail is removed, serious damage is certain to follow.

Want of skill in driving a nail is not always the chief cause of "binding" or "pricking" a horse. More often than not the form and position of the nail-holes is the primary cause, for if the nail-holes in the shoe are too "coarse" or badly pitched it is quite impossible to safely drive nails through them. Sometimes the nails are defective, and this was much more common when nails were all hand-made. Bad iron or bad workmanship led to nails splitting within the hoof, and whilst one half came out through the wall the other portion turned in and penetrated the sensitive foot causing a most dangerous injury. The best brands of machine-made nails, now generally used, are remarkably free from this defect.

No lameness resulting from injury by a nail should be neglected. If detected and attended to at once few cases are serious. If neglected, the very simplest may end in permanent damage to the horse. By treating these accidents as unpardonable, horse-owners rather encourage farriers to disguise them or to not acknowledge them. If the workman would always be careful to search for injury and when he found it acknowledge the accident, many simple cases would cease to develop into serious ones. Frank acknowledgement is always best, but is less likely to take place when it is followed by unqualified blame than when treated as an accident which may have been accompanied by unavoidable difficulties.

From clipslameness may arise. A badly drawn clip is not easily laid level and flat on the wall. When hammered down excessively it causes pressure on the sensitive foot, and lameness. When side clips are used—one each side of the foot—it is not difficult to cause lameness by driving them too tightly against the wall. They then hold the hoof as if in a vice. When shoes get loose or are partially torn off the horse may tread on the clip, and if it be high and sharp very dangerous wounds result.

From the shoe, injury results from any uneven pressure, especially when the horny covering of the foot is weak and thin. The horn becomes broken and split, and the bearing for a shoe is more or less spoiled. Flat feet are liable to be bruised by the pressure of the inner circumference of the shoe at the toe. Lameness from this cause is easily detected by removing the shoe and testing the hoof with the pincers. If attended to at once,and the bearing of the shoe removed from the part little injury results. If neglected, inflammatory changes in the sensitive parts are sure to arise.

Cornsin horses are due to bruising of the angle of the sole by the heel of the shoe. A wide open foot with low heels is most likely to suffer, but any foot may be injured. The most common seat of injury is the inner heel of a fore-foot. Even a properly fitted shoe may cause a corn if retained too long upon a foot, as then, owing to the growth of the hoof, its extremity is carried forward from beneath the wall so as to press upon the sole. A short shoe, fitted too close on the inside, is the most common cause of corn. To guard against the shoe being trodden on by the opposite foot the inside is generally fitted close, and to guard against being trodden on by the hind foot it is often fitted short. Thus to prevent accidents of one kind methods are adopted which, being a little overdone, lead to injury of another. A not uncommon error in the preparation of the foot for shoeing may also lead to the production of the so-called corn. If the wall on the inside heel be lowered more than it should be the horn of the sole is left higher than the wall, and then a level shoe presses unevenly upon the higher part.

A corn, be it remembered, is not a tumour or a growth, it is merely a bruise of the sensitive foot under the horn of the sole. It shows itself by staining the horn red, just as a bruise on the human body shows a staining of the skin above it. To "cut out a corn" with the idea of removing it is simply an ignorant proceeding. If a corn be slight all that is necessary is to take off the pressure of the shoe, and this is assisted by removing a thin slice or two of horn at the part. When the injury is very great matter may be formed under the horn, and of course must be let out by removal of the horn over it. Provided there is no reason to believe that matter has formed, a corn,i.e., the bruised and discoloured horn, should not be dug out in the ruthless manner so commonly adopted. Cutting away all the horn of the sole at the heels leaves the wall without any support. When the shoe rests upon the wall it is unable to sustain the weight without yielding, and thus an additional cause of irritation and soreness is manufactured. The excessive paring of corns is the chief reason of the difficulty of getting permanently rid of them. The simplest device for taking all pressure off a corn is to cut off an inch and a half of the inner heel of the shoe. With the three-quarter shoe (Fig. 73)a horse will soon go sound, and his foot will then resume its healthy state. The saying "once a corn, always a corn" is not true, but it is true that a bruised heel is tender and liable to bruise again, from very slight unevenness of pressure, for at least three months. All that is necessary is care in fitting and abstention from removal of too much horn at the part. Of course when the degree of lameness is such as to suggest that matter is formed the horn must be cut away so as to afford an exit for it, but the majority of corns are detected long before the stage of suppuration has resulted from a bruise.

Fig. 73.—Three-quarter Shoe.

A burnt Sole.In fitting a hot shoe to a foot it sometimes happens that the sensitive parts under the sole at the toe are injured by heat. This is most likely to occur with a foot on which the horn is thin, especially if it also be flat or convex. Burning the sole is an injury which must be put down to negligence. It does not occur from the shoe being too hot but from its being too long retained, and may be expected when the fireman is seen holding a dull-red hot shoe on to a foot, with a doormen assisting to "bed it in" by pressing it to the foot with a rasp. When the heat of a shoe penetrates through the horn with sufficient intensity to blister the sensitive parts of the foot great pain and lameness result. In many cases separation of the sole from the "quick" takes place, and some weeks pass before the horse can resume work.

Treadsare injuries to the coronet caused by the shoe of the opposite foot, and are usually found on the front or inside of the hind feet. The injury may take the form of abruise and the skin remain unbroken, it may appear as a superficial jagged wound, or it may take the form of a tolerably clean cut, in which case, although at first bleeding is very free, ultimate recovery is rapid. Bruises on the coronet—just where hair and hoof meet—are always to be looked upon as serious. The slighter cases, after a few days pain and lameness, pass away leaving only a little line showing where the hoof has separated from the skin. This separation is not serious unless a good deal of swelling has accompanied it, and even then only time is required to effect a cure. In more serious cases an extensive slough takes place, and the coronary band which secretes the wall may be damaged. The worst cases are those in which deep seated abscesses occur, as they often terminate in a "quittor." The farrier should always recognise a tread as possibly dangerous and obtain professional advice.

It is a common custom to rasp away the horn of the wall immediately beneath any injury of the coronet, but it is a useless proceeding which weakens the hoof and does no good to the inflamed tissues above or beneath.

Treads are most common in horses shod with heavy shoes and high calkins—a fact which suggests that a low square calkin and a shoe fitted not too wide at the heels is a possible preventive.

By these terms is meant the injury to the inside of the fetlock joint which results from bruising by the opposite foot. Possibly some small proportion of such injuries are traceable to the system of shoeing, to the form of shoe, or to the action of the horse. They are, with few exceptions, the direct result of want of condition in the horse and are almost confined to young horses, old weak horses, or animals that have been submitted to some excessively long and tiring journey. The first thing a horse-owner does when his horse "brushes" is to send him to the farrier to have his shoes altered. In half the cases there is nothing wrong with the shoes, and all that is required is a little patience till the horse gains hard condition. At the commencement of a coaching season half the horses "cut" their fetlocks, no matter how they are shod. At the end of the season none of them touch the opposite joint, with perhaps a few exceptions afflicted with defective formation of limb, or constitutions that baffle all attempts at getting hard condition. The same thing is seen in cab and omnibusstock. All the new horses "cut" their legs for a few weeks. The old ones, with a few exceptions, work in any form of shoe, but never touch their joints. They "cut" when they are out of condition—when their limbs soon tire; but they never "cut" when they are in condition—when they have firm control of the action of their limbs. There are, however, a few horses that are always a source of trouble, and there are conditions of shoeing which assist or prevent the injury. The hind legs are the most frequently affected and this because of the calkins. Many horses will cease "cutting" at once if the calkins of the shoes be removed and a level shoe adopted. There are certain forms of shoe which are supposed to be specially suitable as preventives. A great favourite is the "knocked-up-shoe"—i.e., a shoe with no nails on the inside except at the toe, and a skate-shaped inner branch.

Fig. 74.—"Knocked-up" Shoes—with and without an inner Calkin.

These shoes are fitted not only close to the inner border of the wall but within it, and the horn at the toe is then rasped off level with the shoe. Whether they are of any use is a question, but there is no question of the harm they do to the foot. Some farriers are partial to a three-quarter-shoe—one from which a couple of inches of the inside heel has been removed. Some thicken the outside toe, some the inside toe. Some raise one heel, some the other, and some profess to have a principle of fitting the shoe based upon the formation of the horse's limb and the peculiarity of hisaction. If in practice success attended these methods I should advise their adoption, but my experience is that numerous farriers obtain a special name for shoeing horses that "cut," when their methods, applied to quite similar cases, are as antagonistic as the poles. A light shoe without calkins has at any rate negative properties—it will not assist the horse to injure himself. For all the other forms and shapes I have a profound contempt, but as people will have changes, and as the most marked departure from the ordinary seems to give the greatest satisfaction, it is perhaps "good business" to supply what is appreciated.

The two great cures for "cutting" are—regular work and good old beans. When a man drives a horse forty miles in a day at a fast pace he, of course, blames the farrier for all damage to the fetlocks. He is merely illogical.

Fig. 75.—Toe of Hind Shoe showing the edge which cuts the Front Foot.

This is an injury to the heel—generally the inner—of a front foot. The heel is struck by the inner border of the toe of the hind shoe. Over-reach occurs at a gallop in this country, but is seen in America as the result of a mis-step in the fast trotters. An over-reach can only occur when the fore foot is raised from the ground and the hind foot reaches right into the hollow of the fore foot. When the fore and hind feet in this position separate the inner border of the toe of the hind shoe catches the heel of the fore foot and cuts off a slice. This cut portion often hangs as a flap, and when it does the attachment is always at the back, showing that the injury was not from behind forwards as it would be if caused by a direct blow, but from before backwards—in other wordsby a dragging action of the hind foot as it leaves the front one. An over-reach then may result either from the fore limb being insufficiently extended, or from the hind limb being over extended.

The prevention of this injury is effected by rounding off the inside edge of the hind shoe as shown below.

Fig. 76.—Toe of Hind Shoe showing rounded inside border.

This is an injury inflicted on the inner surface of the lower part of the knee joint by a blow from the toe of the shoe of the opposite foot. It occurs at a trot, and very seldom except when a horse is tired or over-paced. A horse that has once "speedy-cut" is apt to do so again and it may cause him to fall. Such horses should be shod "close" on the inside, and care should be taken that the heels of the foot which strikes should be kept low. In some cases a three-quarter shoe (seeFig. 73) on the offending foot prevents injury.

This is not an injury but an annoyance. It is the noise made by the striking of the hind shoe against the front as the horse is trotting. Horses "forge" when young and green, when out of condition or tired. As a rule, a horse that makes this noise is a slovenly goer, and will cease to annoy when he gets strength and goes up to his bit. Shoeing makes a difference, and in some cases at once stops it. The part of the front shoe struck is the inner border round the toe. (Fig. 77). The part of the hind shoe that strikes is the outer border at the inside and outside toe. (Fig. 78).

Fig. 77.—Toe of Fore Shoe. The arrows mark the place struck in "forging."

Fig. 78.—Toe of Hind Shoe showing the edge which strikes the Fore Shoe.

Fig. 79.—Toe of Fore Shoe with inner border bevelled off.

To alter the fore shoe, round off the inner border; or use a shoe with no inner border such as the concave hunting shoeTo alter the toe of the hind shoe is useless, but by using a level shoe without calkins some advantage is gained. A so-called "diamond-toed" shoe has been recommended. It is not advisable as it does no good except by causing its point to strike the sole of the front foot. If by such a dodge the sound is got rid of it is only by running the risk of injuring the foot.

Any average farrier can shoe without immediate harm a good well-formed foot that has a thick covering of horn, but when the horn is deficient in quantity or quality injury soon takes place if a badly fitted shoe be applied. There are feet which from disease or accident or bad shoeing have become, more or less, permanently damaged. Some are seriously altered in shape. Some are protected only by an unhealthy horn, and some show definite changes which cause weakness at a special part. These are the feet which really test the art of the farrier, for he must know just what to do and what not to do, and must possess the skill to practice what he knows.

Flat Feet.Some horses are born with flat feet, others acquire them as the result of disease. Too often the flat sole has another defect accompanying it—low weak heels. Such feet are best shod with a seated shoe so as to avoid any uneven pressure on the sole, and the shoes should always be fitted a little longer than the bearing-surface of the foot, so as to avoid any risk of producing a bruise at the heel—in other words, of causing a corn. The seated shoe is not advisable on a hunter. The concave shoe used for hunters has many distinct advantages and only one disadvantage for a flat foot, viz, that it has a wide flat foot-surface. It may cause an uneven pressure at the toe on a flat sole, but this is easily avoided by not making it too wide; perhaps the very worst thing to do with a flat foot is to try and make it look less flat by paring it down. The thinner the horn the greater the chance of injury to the sensitive parts under it, and every injury tends to make the sole weaker. Leaving the sole strong and thick, whilst fitting the shoe to avoid uneven pressure, is the principle of shoeing to be adopted with flat feet.

Convex Soles.The sole of the foot should be concave, but as the result of disease many feet become convex. This bulging or "dropping" of the sole varies in degree from a little more than flat to an inch or so below thelevel of the wall. When the under-surface of a horse's foot resembles in form the outside of a saucer, fitting a shoe becomes a work of art. Very often the wall is brittle and broken away and it is most difficult to find sufficient bearing-surface on the foot for a shoe. Many of these feet may be safely shod with a narrow shoe that rests only on the wall and the intermediate horn between the wall and sole. Such a shoe may, according to the size of the foot, be five-eighths or even three-quarters of an inch wide. Its thickness is to be such as will prevent the sole taking any direct bearing on the ground, and sometimes a shoe of this form is much thicker than it is wide. The advantage of this shoe is that it is so narrow that any bearing on the sole is avoided. The disadvantage is that on rough roads the sole may be bruised by the flint or granite stones. When the horn of a "dropped" sole is very thin, or when the horse has to work on roads covered with sharp loose stones, some cover for the sole is necessary and the narrow shoe is not practicable. To provide cover for the sole, the web of the shoe has to be wide, and, therefore, the foot-surface of the shoe must be seated out so as to avoid contact with the sole. Too often the seating is continued from the inner to the outer border of a shoe, so that no level bearing-surface is provided for the wall to rest on. This kind of shoe is like the hollow of a saucer, and when applied to a foot is certain to cause lameness soon or later. Each time the horse rests his weight on it the hoof is compressed by the inclined surface of the shoe, which instead of providing a firm bearing-surface affords only an ingenious instrument of torture.

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