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A TEXT-BOOK 


OF 


HORSESHOEING 


FOR 


Horseshoers and Veterinarians 


BY 


A, LUNGWITZ 


FORMER MEMBER OF THE ROYAL SAXON VETERINARY COMMISSION, LATE INSTRUCTOR IN THE 
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF HORSESHOEING, AND DIRECTOR OF THE SHOEING 
SCHOOL OF THE ROYAL VETERINARY COLLEGE IN DRESDEN, GERMANY 


AND 


JOHN W. ADAMS 


PROFESSOR OF SURGERY AND OBSTETRICS, AND LECTURER ON SHOEING IN THE 
VETERINARY SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 


ELEVENTH EDITION 


WITH TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE ILLUSTRATIONS 


PHILADELPHIA & LONDON 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 


Copyright, 1897, by J. B. Lirpprncorr Company. 


Copyright, 1904, by J. B. Lirpprncorr Company. 


Copyright, 1913, by J. B. Lippincorr Company. 


pe we 0-0 


OclLA3851539 


Ad f 


PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 


Tne inauguration of the law requiring horseshoers to be ex- 
amined emphasizes the need of a brief and easily understood 
text-book on theoretical and practical horseshoeing. At the re- 
quest of the Royal Veterinary Commission, in charge of the 
Royal Veterinary Schoo] in Dresden, and many interested in- 
dividuals, I have attempted to meet this need by condensing 
within the narrowest possible limits all that is essential to the 
horseshoer in the practice of his profession. The subject-matter 
has been cast into a logically arranged course of instruction ; all 
that is superfluous and is found only in exhaustive treatises on 
shoeing has been omitted. 

In order to make this elementary text-book more easy to 
understand, numerous instructive illustrations have been incor- 
porated, which were taken partly from “‘ Der Fuss des Pferdes,” 
by Leisering & Hartmann, fifth edition, Dresden, 1882; partly 
from the journal Der Hufschmied, and partly from drawings 
made specially for this work. 

With the desire that this little book may find many friends 
and supply them with valuable information, it is herewith given 
to the public. 


A. LuNGWITz. 
DRESDEN, September, 1884. 


TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE. 


During the past nine years in which it has been my 
privilege to teach horseshoeing to students of veterinary medi- 
cine in the University of Pennsylvania, and to classes of horse- 
shoers under the auspices of the Master Horseshoers’ National 
Protective Association of America, I have been forcibly im- 
pressed with the urgent need of a text-book of horseshoeing 
that is adapted to the needs of beginners. In my opinion, such 
a work must present a detailed description of the anatomy and 
physiology of the legs below the middle of the cannons, and 
must emphasize in unmistakable terms the definite relations 
which exist between certain well-defined forms of the hoof and 
certain well-defined standing positions of the limb. Only on 
this sure foundation can a thoroughly scientific system of shoe- 
ing be based. Furthermore, the teachings must be eminently 
practical, logically arranged, as brief as is consistent with clear- 
ness, easy of comprehension by persons who are unfamiliar with 
technical language, profusely illustrated, and moderate in price. 

Through the kindness of my respected friend and former 
teacher, Professor A. Lungwitz, one of the highest authorities 
in all matters pertaining to shoeing, and for many years a 
teacher in and the Director of what I believe to be the best 
school of shoeing in the world, I am enabled to present to the 
public this translation of his text-book for students of shoeing. 
Written to meet requirements identical with those existing to- 
day in the United States, and in scope and arrangement exactly 
suited to both student and teacher, I am confident that it will 
meet the favor that it merits. 


Tue TRANSLATOR. 
PHILADELPHIA, 1904. 5 


PREFACE TO THE ELEVENTH 
EDITION. 


Srnce the publication in 1904 of a translation of the tenth 
edition of Der Lehrmeister im Hufbeschlag, Prof. Anton Lung- 
witz, the author, having reached the age of retirement has with- 
drawn from the activities of the Royal Saxon Shoeing School, 
and has expressed a desire that the translator assume entire 
responsibility for future editions. 

To note the progress of farriery during the past ten years 
many chapters have been revised, necessitating resetting, and 
sixty-nine new illustrations have been added and many re- 
drawn. It has seemed desirable to discuss the effect of weight 
in the shoe in altering the flight of the foot; to consider rubber 
pads so widely used in the United States, and to direct atterition 
to many innovations of more or less value, that have appeared 
during recent years. 

In preparing this edition I have had the cordial co-operation 
of the publishers, to whom I hereby express deepest gratitude. 
I wish also to record my appreciation for the many suggestions 
and other aid given me by Mr. Franz Enge, Chief Farrier of 
the shoeing shop of the Veterinary Hospital, University of 
Pennsylvania. Joun W. Apams. 


UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, April, 1913. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 
INTRODUCTION . . | ere PERE A Nec ee ies Millia aes Sib Le 
The Object of Shocing oe ee ee Sia oe Pe Ree re ara ht eae BS 
PARA 1. 
CHAR WE Rat: 
THE GROSS ANATOMY OF THE HORSE. 
Bons OF THE HEAD—BONES OF THE TRUNK ...... . . 17 
THE SPINAL COLUMN—BONES OF THE THORAX . . . .... ...—-...:-«C17-19 
BONES OF THE PELVIS—BONES OF THE Limps .... . . . 1921 
JOINTS—MUSCLES—TENDON SHEATHS ......... . 21-24 
THE FOOT. 
A. The Bones of the Foot . .. 24 
The Cannon—The Long Basten The. Sexamoid Bones ihe 
Short Pastern—The Pedal Bone—The Navicular Bone . . 24-28 
Be wherArticulationsiofthe hoot. 94). eo 2) le ae) ee 4 es 
[ee krm HEOMrOCKVOIND ater a.) ec i) ee ie Be 28 
he Suspensory, Wagamentie “2.1 36 Ge Sess 2 UMS ie! 129 
The Inferior Sesamoid Ligament Ag te . MAtrs- eRe Ueto 
II. THe Coronary JOINT . . a Sa Pe el 
IJ. Toe Pepat ARTICULATION (Conemt oma) i, tate 1) eS! 
C. The Locomotory Organs of the Foot. _.._—i 32 
The Anterior Extensor Tendon of the PHalanges= ihe: Pemerntus 
Tendon—The Perforans Tendon. . ... .. .-. 32-35 
Mucous Burse and Tendon Sheaths . ... Neer bs, 40 
Altering the Relative Tension of the Flexor Tendons aril Suspen- 
sory Ligament of the Fetlock-Joint . . . . . .. . . 386 
D. The Elastic Parts of the Foot . . . OEE Pee aero 
The Lateral Cartilages—The Plantar @ushion! Be Aa CoO 40 
E. The Blood-Vessels and Nerves. .. ary Se 
The Arteries of the Foot—The Veins of fhe Roct—The Nerves of 
Gheyoote =] BF pba pate, pte Were PER Cac) 
F. The Protective Organs of ihe Foot. At Pars cs om ae ew ot ores 
(Q) EE BEMATR- SKINGE te 19. Oe Pt ef La ilk MM em, A 
- Mebev Ein eimiisy Js eM oe Pe ee PPS Sos eye Ee a mek 
. The Dermis . . sop tice ke ee Bo A) om oS gree Ae 
3. The Subcutaneous Aiasiie ie eel 8 eee Lowe io ce Phe AG 


10 CONTENTS. 


(6) Tae Hoor-SKin, oR PopopERM .... . . . . 465,46 
is Ming eta ie byanolo eh 6 6 "el ol m o &  @ a a at 

2\. he Coronanye band ie) aes P26) Oe, po) Se. a toe 

3. The Fleshy Wall . . 1S So ee i en a 

The Fleshy Leaves (eodepby lions rIngane) ss § 548549 

45 ihe Velvety.Tissueof the’ Sole... . . © 2 9. 49 

5. aithe Velvety. Lissucof the Prom. . .. = . . 3 «= = 4 

(c) ‘Tort Horn CArPsuLm oR Hoor . 4 «. <« . + « | S0558 
Pearle ae td ee PO See ee ee oo 

the sBarsh: hey hare Sos 51, 52 


The Layers of the Wall: 1. The Periople. ke Middle 
or Protective Layer. 3. The Leafy Layer cee raphyllous 


IER Oe Meow i ee Ror a Mel) hes fo 5 
MRHe Soles hts) (hey Eo a eo oO 
The Frog. ting Pick Tes 2h, ie ee OOS 
The Minute Structure of ite Hora fe Se 8 at So OS 
leleivol aravel Store sl@ean 5 5 Sa 6 6 6s ae 6 « « o OF 


C HVACR LER: EI. 


THE FOOT IN ITS RELATION TO THE ENTIRE LIMB. 


A. Standing Positions of the Limbs. . . . . . . oe 862 
(a) THE Positions oF A FoORE-LIMB VIEWED FROM IN BeOMe AND 
IN PROBE.) Pe O2=0K 
(6) THE POSITIONS OF A ean ee VIEWED FROM Been AND IN 
JETOIUMD) 4 gg 67-69 
B. Forms of Feet, viewed oma in Fone con Bend padi in Profile 69-72 
C. Lines of Flight of Hoofs in Motion : 72-75 
D. Influence of Weight upon Lines of Flight of Hoofs : Sy, 05) 
E. Forms of Hoofs 77 


The Hoof of the Reoular Position The Hoof a ine ‘BasecW. ide 
Position—The Hoof of the Base-Narrow Position—Forms of 
Hind Hoofs—The Wide and the Narrow Hoof—The Character- 


istics of Healthy Hoofs . Hider BNie, YR MRT ioe 

F. Growth of the Hoof and Wear of the Hoos al Shoe ee, Vi 82-80 

G. Physiological Movements of the Hoof . .. .. . +. +. 86-89 
PART i; 


QOH APT ER Lit. 
SHOEING HEALTHY HOOFS. 


A. Examination of a Horse Preliminary to Shoeing. §© . . . . . 90 
B. Raising and holding the Feet of the Horse tobe Shod. . . . . 92 


om) Hiya 


MH 


oor wWN 


A. 
B. 


CONTENTS. 


. Removing the Old Shoes 

. Preparing the Hoof for the Shoe 

. Preparing the Hoof for going Barefoot 
. Making Shoes 


11 


97 
98 
. 102 
. 103 


The padometer=Nalany: Brant Shoes Mialane find Shoes Cans 


eral Characteristics of Shoes—A Shoe with Heel-Calks—A 
with Toe- and Heel-Calks—Special Characteristics of Shoes 


Choosing the Shoe 


. Shaping and Fitting Shes General Gansidecsione 


Shaping and Fitting Shoes—Special Considerations . 
Fitting Shoes to Saddlers and Hunters. 
Fitting Shoes to Runners. 
Fitting Shoes to Trotters and Pacers 
Fitting Shoes to Heavy Draft Horses 
Nailing the Shoe—Horseshoe Nails 


- Machine Shoes 
. Rubber Pads . 


Ci ACP Ee tN: 


SHOEING HORSES THAT FORGE AND INTERFERE. 


. Forging—Cross-firing 
. Interfering 


CHAP TERY. 


WINTER SHOEING. 


. Icr-Natus (FRost-N alts) 

. SHARP ToE- AND HEEL-CALKs . 

. SCREW-CALKS 

. Peg HEEL-CALKsS. 

. Pea Ton-CaLks 

. REMOVABLE HEEL-CALKS, THAT DO NOT REQUIRE ‘Saupe. 


CHAPTER V I. 
HOOF NURTURE. 


Care of Unshod Hoofs 
Care of Shod Hoofs . : 
Greasing and Soaking the Egon. 


Shoe 


103-116 
S LLG 
2 Ee 
. 120 
a2? 
y 123 
. 124 
. 125 
. 128 
. 182 
. 185 


138, 140 
.. 142 


. 146 
. 146 
148, 155 
. 150 
. 152 
. 154 


> 157. 
se lod 
. 159 


12 


CONTENTS. 
PART III. 


CHA PER WV i: 


GENERAL REMARKS CONCERNING THE SHOEING OF DEFECTIVE HOOFS AND LAME 


HORSES. 


GENERAL REMARKS . : ‘ 
CLASSIFICATION OF DISEASES OF THE Eon : 


CHACE TERS V ist, 


INFLAMMATIONS OF THE PODODERM (PODODERMATITIS). 


1. NAILING 

2. STREET-NAIL . 

3. CALK-WOUNDS OF THE (Couennt 

4. Corns . 

5. INFLAMMATION OF THE Herne 

6. Lamrnitis (FounDER) : 
7. KERAPHYLLOCELE (HORN MOR). 


CH ACP TE RX. 


DEFECTS OF THE HOOF, 


A. Changes of Form ; 
1. THe FLAT AND THE Pore Hoos ; 
2. THE UPRIGHT OR Stumpy Hoor . 
3. THE ConTRACTED Hoor 


(a) The Contraction of Wide loots : 
(b) Contraction of the Sole 


4. Tue Wry Hoor 
5. THe Crookep Hoor . 


6. OSSIFICATION OF THE LATERAL Cuan ce (epee Baan : 


B. Disturbances of Continuity of Hoof 


il 


CRACKS . 


ZCUERTS 

3. LoosE WALL 

4. 

5. THRUSH OF THE FROG 


HoLitow WALL 


CEA P mR xX. 


SHOEING MULES, ASSES, AND OXEN. 


1. THE SHOEING OF MULES AND ASSES 
2. THE SHOEING OF OXEN . 


161-165 
. 165 


. 166 
. £70 
» its 
« LTA 
. £76 
ap Lich 
. 13h 


. 182 
. 182 
. 184 
. 185 
. 189 
. 189 
. 190 
. 192 
. 194 
. 195 
. 195 
. 203 
. 204 
. 205 
. 206 


. 207 
ee ON 


INTRODUCTION. 


HorsEsHoEING is an industry which requires, in equal 
degree, knowledge and skill. 

The word “ horseshoeing ” embraces various acts, especially 
preparing the iron sole, the horseshoe; forming it and fitting it 
to the hoof, whose ground-surface has been previously dressed 
in accordance with the direction of the limb, and fastening it to 
the hoof by means of nails. 

Owing to the complicated structure of the hoof, success in 
the practice of horseshoeing requires a knowledge of the anatomy 
and physiology of the horse’s body in general and of the foot in 
particular. 

The object of shoeing is,— 

1. To protect the hoof from excessive wear, and thus render 
the horse continuously serviceable upon our hard roads. 

2. To prevent slipping and falling during the winter season. 

3. Toso far remove the disadvantages of faulty positions of 
the limbs that horses may render good service, and, in some 
cases, 

4. To cure or improve diseased or defective hoofs or feet. 

Horseshoeing, though apparently simple, involves many 
difficulties, owing to the fact that the hoof is not an unchanging 
body, but varies much with respect to form, growth, quality, 
and elasticity. Furthermore, there are such great differences 
in the character of ground-surfaces and in the nature of horses’ 
work that shoeing which is not performed with great ability and 


care induces disease and makes horses lame. 
13 


14 INTRODUCTION 


In view of these facts, a thorough training of the young 
horseshoer in the principles and practice of his trade is not only 
greatly to be desired, but is really essential to success ; unreason- 
ing work does as much harm in this as in any other vocation. 
A good common-school education is necessary (more will do no 
harm). Further requisites are a healthy body, not too tall, 
liking for the work, aptness, an active, reasoning mind, fear- 
lessness, dexterity, a good eye for proportion, and, finally, care- 
ful selection of a master-instructor. Theoretically educated, 
practically experienced and approved masters, in whose shops 
all kinds of horses are shod, are to be preferred. 

During his term of apprenticeship the young apprentice 
should learn to make drawings of horse&hoes, of tools of the 
trade, and of hoofs of various forms, and should also make one 
or more model shoes as an indication of his ability. After com- 
pleting his time he should seek a position in a first-class shop, 
either at home or abroad. A visit to foreign lands will widen 
one’s mental horizon and make him a broader, abler man in 
every respect. Later, opportunity will be given to some (in 
Germany) to join the cavalry, and thus acquire a good educa- 
tion in shoeing under the patronage of the government. Finally, 
a course of instruction in a school of horseshoeing will convert 
an already practical and intelligent horseshoer into a thoughtful, 
capable, expert workman. 

The scope of horseshoeing is by no means so narrow and 
insignificant as it may appear, and since a knowledge of the 
anatomy and physiology of the horse’s body in general, and of 
the foot in particular, is necessary, it is evident that the schools 
of horseshoeing in which one can get the best instruction are 
those in which there is not only a regularly graded course of 


INTRODUCTION 15 


instruction, with demonstrations upon dissected material and 
upon living horses, but also an abundance of daily work at the 
forge and on the floor in the shoeing of horses. A course of 
four to six weeks is not sufficient. 

Furthermore, it should be borne in mind that schools of 
horseshoeing are not for the purpose of instructing young men 
in all matters which pertain to the trade, but only in the making 
of shoes, the critical examination and management of hoofs, and 
the rational and skilful performance of shoeing. For this reason 
it is not advisable for young men to attend a school of horse- 


shoeing until they have at least completed their apprenticeship. 


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HORSESHOEING. 


PA rue a. 


CHAPTER I. 
THE GROSS ANATOMY OF THE HORSE. 


THE supporting structure of the horse’s body is the bony 
framework or skeleton (Fig. 1, page 18). We distinguish in 
the skeleton the bones of the head, trunk, and limbs. 

The bones of the head are numerous and, excepting the 
lower jaw, are solidly united with one another. In general, we 
distinguish in the head only the upper and lower jaws (1 and 1’). 
Both form various cavities; for example, the cranial cavity,,in 
which the brain lies, the orbital cavities (eye-sockets ), the nasal 
passages, and the mouth. Besides, the teeth are set in the jaws. 

The trunk comprises the bones of the spinal column, thorax, 
and pelvis. 

The spinal or vertebral column (2 to 6), which bears the 
head at its anterior end, is the chief support of the entire 
skeleton. It consists of from fifty-two to fifty-four single and 
irregular bones called vertebrae, placed in the upper part of the 
median vertical plane of the body. Each vertebra, with the ex- 
ception of those of the tail (coccygeal or caudal vertebrie), is 
traversed by a large opening called the vertebral foramen. The 
vertebre are placed end to end in a row, and through them runs 
a continuous large canal called the vertebral or spinal canal, in 
which lies the spinal cord. The horse has seven cervical, 
eighteen dorsal, six lumbar, five sacral, and sixteen to eighteen 

2 Ligh 


18 HORSESHOEING. 


caudal vertebre. The sacral vertebrae are grown together to 
form one piece called the sacrum. 


1h, Ie 


SKELETON OF THE HorsE.—1, bones of the head; 1’, lower jaw; 2, cervical vertebra; 3, 
dorsal vertebre; 4, lumbar vertebre; 5, sacral vertebre (sacrum); 6, coccygeal vertebre; 7, 
ribs; 8, sternum (breast-bone); 9, pelvis; 9’, ilium; 9”, ischium; 10, scapula (shoulder-blade) ; 
11, humerus; 12, radius; 13, ulna; 14, carpus (knee); 15, large metacarpal bone (cannon); 16, 
rudimentary metarcarpal bones (splint-bones); 17, os suffraginis (long pastern); 18, os coro- 
nz (short pastern); 19, os pedis (hoof-bone); 20, sesamoid bones; 21, femur; 22, patella 
(knee-pan, stifle); 23, tibia; 24, fibula; 25, tarsus, or hock; 26, large metatarsal bone (can- 
non); 27, rudimentary metatarsals (splint bones); 28, os suffraginis (long pastern); 29, os 
corone (short pastern) ; 30, os pedis (hoof-bone, ‘‘coffin bone’’); 31, sesamoid bones. 


The thorax is formed by the ribs and the breast-bone or 
sternum. The horse has eighteen ribs on each side (7), and all 


articulate with the dorsal vertebre. The first eight pairs unite 
by their lower ends directly to the sternum or breast-bone, and 


HORSESHOEING. 19 


are therefore called true ribs, while the last ten pairs are only 
indirectly attached to the sternum, and are consequently called 
false ribs. The sternum (8) lies between the forelegs, and helps 
to form the floor of the chest cavity. The space enclosed by the 
bones of the thorax is called the thoracic, pulmonary, or chest 
cavity, and contains the heart and lungs. The bones of the pelvis 
form a complete circle or girdle. The upper part, called the 
ilium (9’), articulates on its inner side with the sacrum (5), 
while its outer side is prolonged to form a prominent angle, 
which is the support of the hip, and is called the “ point of the 
hip.” The posterior part of the pelvis is called the ischium 
(9), and that part lying between the ilium and the ischium and 
forming part of the floor of the pelvis is called the pubis. 

The space between the thorax and the pelvis, bounded above 
by the lumbar vertebrae and shut in below and on the sides by 
the skin and muscular walls of the belly (abdomen), is called 
the abdominal cavity. This cavity opens directly into the pel- 
vie cavity, and contains the stomach, intestines, liver, spleen, 
pancreas, kidneys, and a part of the generative organs. The 
thoracic and abdominal cavities are separated by a muscular 
partition, the diaphragm. 

The bones of the limbs may be likened to columns, upon 
which the body rests; they articulate with one another at various 
angles, are tubular in structure, and strong. 

The bones of the fore-limbs do not articulate directly with 
the bones of the trunk, but are attached to the body by means of 
the skin and muscles. From above to below we distinguish the 
following bones: 

1. The scapula, or shoulder-blade (10), a flat, triangular 
bone, prolonged at its upper border by a flat, very elastic car- 
tilage, called the scapular cartilage. At its lower end the 
scapula articulates with— 

2. The upper end of the humerus (11), forming the 
shoulder-joint (scapulo-humeral articulation). The humerus 
articulates at its lower end with— 


20 HORSESHOEING. 


3. The radius (12) and the ulna (18), to form the elbow- 
joint. ‘These two bones are the basis of the forearm. The 
ulna, smaller and weaker than the radius, lies behind and 
projects above it to form the point of the elbow. The lower 
end of the radius articulates with— 

4, The carpus, or knee (14), which comprises seven small, 
cubical bones disposed in two horizontal rows, one above the 
other. The upper row comprises four bones and the lower row 
three. The lower row rests upon— 

5. The large metacarpal or cannon bone, and the two rudi- 
mentary metacarpal or splint-bones. The lower end of the 
radius, the upper ends of the metacarpal bones, and the smail 
carpal bones together form the carpal or knee-joint (wrist of 
man). Of the metacarpals, the middle one is the largest, 
longest, strongest, and most important, and is called the large 
metacarpal, cannon, or shin-bone (15). It articulates at its 
lower end with the os suffraginis, or long pastern (17), and with 
the two small sesamoid bones (20). On each side of the upper 
part of its posterior surface lie the two long, slender splint- 
bones (16). The inner splint-bone is sometimes affected with 
bony thickenings (exostoses) called “ splints.” 

6. The bones of the phalanges (all bones below the cannon) 
will be fully described in another place, 

The bones of the hind limbs articulate directly with the 
pelvis at the hip-joint. They are stronger than the bones of 
the anterior limbs. We distinguish the following bones in the 
hind legs: 

1. The highest bone in the hind limb is the femur (21). It 
is the strongest bone in the entire body. It lies in an oblique 
direction downward and forward, and at its lower end articu- 
lates with— 

2. The patella (22), the tibia (23), and the fibula (24), to 
form the stifle-joint (knee of man). The patella plays over the 
anterior surface of the lower end of the femur. The fibula is 
small, and lies against the upper and outer side of the tibia. 
The latter at its lower end articulates with— 


HORSESHOEING. 21 


3. The bones of the tarsus, or hock (25), which are six 
small, irregular bones disposed in three rows, one above another, 
The os caleis, or heel-bone, and the astragalus are in the upper- 
most row, and are the most important. The former projects 
above the true hock-joint from behind, to form a long lever, the 
upper end of which is called the ‘ point of the hock,” and the 
latter articulates with the tibia. The tarsal (hock) bones 
articulate below with— 

4. The metatarsal bones (26 and 27), which are longer, 
and the cannon narrower from side to side, than the correspond- 
ing metacarpal bones, but are otherwise similar. 

5. The phalanges of a hind limb (28 to 31) are also nar- 
rower than those of a fore-limb, but are nearly alike in other 
respects, 

All the horse’s bones present small, but more or less distinet 
openings (nutrient foramina) for the passage of blood-vessels 
and nerves. Many bones possess roughened elevations and de- 
pressions, to which ligaments, tendons, or muscles are attached. 
With the exception of the os pedis, all bones are enveloped in a 
sort of “ bone-skin ” called periosteum. The bones unite arhong 
themselves to form either movable or immovable unions. A 
movable union between two or more bones is termed a “ joint,” 
or articulation. The articulating ends of the bones, presenting 
on one side a convex surface (head or condyle) and on the other 
a corresponding concave surface (glenoid or cotyloid cavity), 
are covered with elastic articular cartilage. The bones are bound 
together by means of ligaments, which are tough, fibrous, cord- 
like, or sheet-like structures. Ligaments are either (1) capsular 
or (2) funicular (cord-like). Every articulation in the limbs 
possesses a capsular ligament, and all, except the shoulder-joint, 
have several funicular (cord-like) ligaments. The capsular liga- 
ments are lined upon their inner face with a delicate membrane 
synovial membrane) which secretes the synovia, or “ joint 
water,’ whose function is to lubricate the joint and prevent fric- 
tion; they enclose the joint in a sort of air-tight euff or sack. 
The funicular ligaments are very strong and often large, and 


x 


22 HORSESHOEING. 


are the chief means of union of the bones. The immovable 
articulations are termed sutures; they are found principally in 
the head. The mixed joints are found between the bodies of the 
vertebra, each two of which are united by an elastic fibro-carti- 
lage which, in the form of a pad, lies between them, and by its 
elasticity allows of very slight movement, though the spinal 
column as a whole can execute manifold and wide movements, 
as shown by the neck and tail. 

Joints which permit motion in all directions are known as 
free joints; such are the shoulder- and hip-joints (ball-and- 
socket joints). Those which admit of motion in but two 
directions (flexion and extension), and often to a very limited 
extent, are called hinge-joints,—c.g., the elbow, hock, and fet- 
lock. The joints between the long and short pasterns and be- 
tween the latter and the pedal bone are imperfect hinge-joints, 
because they allow of some other movements besides flexion and 
extension. The articulation between the first and second cervical 
vertebra (atlas and axis) is called a pivot-joint. 

The skeleton represents a framework which closely ap- 
proaches the external form of the body, and by reason of its 
hardness and stiffness furnishes a firm foundation for all other 
parts of the body. By reason of the great variety of position 
and direction of the bones, and of the fact that changes of posi- 
tion of each single part of this complicated system of levers 
may result in the greatest variety of bodily movements, we can 
readily understand how the horse is enabled to move from place 
to place. Of course, the bones have no power of themselves to 
move, but this power is possessed by other organs that are 
attached to the bones. These organs are the muscles, and, 
owing to their ability to contract and shorten themselves, and 
afterwards to relax and allow themselves to be stretched out, 
they furnish the motive power that is communicated to and 
moves the bones. 

The muscles of the body massed together are the red flesh 
which we observe in every slaughtered animal. They are not, 


a ee er en 


HORSESHOEING. 23 


however, so shapeless as they appear while in this condition ; 
on the contrary, they present well-arranged muscular layers 


1a, Fe 


OvutTEeR MUSCLEs OF THE HorsE.—1, cervical trapezius; 2, dorsal trapezius; 3, mastoido- 
humeralis; 4, great dorsal muscle; 5, long abductor of the arm; 6, long extensor of the fore- 
arm; 7, large extensor of the forearm; 8, short extensor of the forearm; 9, sterno-trochinus 
(deep pectoral); 10, sterno-aponeuroticus; 11, great serratus; 12, common extensor of the 
metacarpus; 13, common extensor of the toe (anterior extensor); 14, common extensor of 
the long pastern (lateral extensor) ; 15, oblique extensor of the metacarpus; 16, external flexor 
of the metacarpus; 17, internal flexor of the metacarpus; 18, oblique flexor of the metacarpus; 
19, fascia lata; 20, superficial gluteus (anterior portion); 21, middle gluteus; 22, superficial 
gluteus (posterior portion) ; 23 and 24, femoral biceps; 25, semitendinosus; 26, semimembra- 
nosus; 27, anterior extensor of the toe; 28, lateral extensor of the toe; 29, perforans muscle 
(deep flexor of toe); 30, oblique flexor of the phalanges; 31, perforatus tendon (superficial 
flexor of phalanges); 32, Achilles tendon (ham-string). 


of variable size, thickness, length, and position. (See Fig. 2.) 
The muscles clothe the skeleton externally, give the body its 


24 HORSESHOEING. 


peculiar form, and, by their special power of contraction, 
change the relative positions of the bones and thus make it pos- 
sible for the animal to move. For this reason, the muscles are 
called the active, and the bones the passive, organs of motion. 
By carefully examining a muscle it will be found to consist of 
actual, minute, reddish, muscular fibres. As a rule, muscles 
terminate in more or less strong, glistening, fibrous cords called 
tendons, or fibrous sheets termed aponeuroses, by which they 
are attached to the bones. In the limbs are muscles terminating 
in very long tendons, which act as draw-lines upon the distant 
bones of the foot (long and short pasterns and pedal bone) and 
set them in motion. Such long tendons are enclosed in sheaths 
of thin, membranous tissue, known as tendon sheaths. The 
inner surface of such a sheath is in direct contact with the 
surface of the tendon, and secretes a thin slippery fluid 
(synovia) which lubricates the tendon and facilitates its gliding 
within the sheath. 

As long as the bones, articulations, muscles, and tendons of 
the limbs remain healthy, just so long will the legs maintain 
their natural direction and position. Frequently, however, 
this normal condition of the limbs is gradually altered by dis- 
ease of the bones, joints, and tendons, and defects in the form 
and action of the lower parts of the limbs arise that often 
require attention in shoeing. 


LEE FOO: 
A. The Bones of the Foot. 


Since the horse is useful to man only by reason of his move- 
ments, his foot deserves the most careful attention. The horse- 
shoer should be familar with all its parts. Fig. 3 shows the 
osseous framework of the foot, consisting of the lower end of the 
cannon bone (A), the long pastern (B), the two sesamoid bones 
(C), the short pastern (D’), and the pedal bone (#). The lower 
end of the cannon, or large metacarpal bone (A) exhibits two 
convex articular surfaces (condyles) separated by a median 
ridge running from before to behind, and all covered by articu- 


HORSESHOEING. 25 


lar cartilage. On both the external and the internal aspects of 
the lower end of the cannon are small uneven depressions in 
which hgaments take 
their attachment. 

The condyles of 
the cannon articulate 
with the os suftra- 
ginis (long pastern) 
and the two sesa- 
moids (Figs. 3, C, 
and 4, 6B) in such a 
manner that in the 
forefeet the cannon 
makes an angle with 0/ 
the long pastern of 
from one hundred 
and thirty-five to one 
hundred and _ forty 
degrees, and in the 
hind feet of from one 
hundred and forty to 
one hundred and 
forty-five degrees. 

The long pastern 
(first phalanx) (Fig. 
4, A) is about one-third the length of the cannon; its upper and 
thicker end presents two condyloid cavities (a) (glenoid cavities), 
separated by a median groove, which exactly fit the condyles 
and ridge at the lower end of the cannon. The lower end of 
the long pastern is smaller than the upper, and is provided with 
two condyles, between which is a shallow groove (e). The an- 
terior face of the bone is smooth, rounded from side to side, 
and blends into the lateral borders. The posterior face is flatter, 
and shows a clearly marked triangle to which ligaments attach. 

The two sesamoid bones (Fig. 4, B) are small, and some- 


26 


what pyramidal in shape, and, 


Fie. 4. 


Os suffraginis with both sesamoid bones 
in position, asin Fig. 3. A, os suffraginis; B, 
sesamoid bones; a, upper joint-surface of 
long pastern; 6, joint-surface of sesamoid 
bones; c, roughened surface at upper end; 
d, roughened surface at lower end, both for 
attachment of ligaments; e, lower joint sur- 
face. 


HORSESHOEING. 


lying against the posterior part 
of the condyles of the cannon 
bone, increase the articular sur- 
faces at the upper end of the 
long pastern. 

The short pastern (second 
phalanx) (Figs. 5 and 6) lies 
under the first phalanx and 
above the os pedis; it is some- 
what cubical in shape. Its 
upper articular surface (Fig. 5, 
a) presents two glenoid cavities 
to correspond with the condyles 
of the first phalanx. The lower 
articular surface (Fig. 5, d) re- 
sembles the lower end of the 
first phalanx. The upper poste- 
rior border of this bone is promi- 
nent and prolonged transversely 


(Fig. 6, a), to serve as a supporting ledge for the first phalanx, 


IMG), 


Short pastern (os coronez) 
viewed in front and in pro- 
file: a, upper joint-surface; 
b, anterior surface; c, lat- 
eral surface; d, lower joint- 
surface. 


surface 


surface. 


heer, (Gh 


Short pastern seen 
from behind: a, smooth 
over 
the perforans tendon 
glides; b, lower joint- 


as a point of attachment 
for the perforatus tendon, 
and as a gliding surface 
for the perforans tendon. 

The lowest bone of 
the lmb the third 
phalanx or os pedis (Fig. 
7). In form it is similar 
to the hoof. The anterior 
or wall-surface (a) is 
rough, like pumice stone. 
Above and in front is the 
pyramidal eminence to 


1S 


which 


which the tendon of the anterior extensor of the phalanges 


attaches. 


Behind, the bone extends backward to form the 


HORSESHOEING. 27 


inner and outer branches (c, c) or wings of the os pedis. The 
upper, articular surface (b) slopes backward and downward. 
The lower, solar or plantar surface (Fig. 8, a) is shghtly con- 
cave, and presents posteriorly a half-moon-shaped excavation, 
with a roughened border ealled the semilunar crest (¢), to which 
the perforans tendon attaches; just above this crest are two 
small holes (e) known as the plantar foramina, through which 
the plantar arteries pass into the bone. The surfaces of wall 
and sole come together in a sharp edge, which is circular in its 


IME 7 


TAA NK 
RAN 
(QW AN 


Os pedis seen in profile and in front; a, 
anterior face with pyramidal eminence 
above; b, joint-surface; c, wings or branches 
of hoof-bone; d, notch which, by the attach- 
ment of the lateral cartilage, is converted 


Lower surface of hoof-bone; a, anterior 
portion covered by the velvety tissue of the 
sole; b, wing of the os pedis; c, semilunar 
crest, to which the perforans tendon at- 
taches; d, plantar fissure leading to e, plan- 


into a foramen and leads to e, the preplan- tar foramen. 


tar fissure. 


course. It is easy to tell whether a pedal bone is from a fore 
or a hind limb; the os pedis of a hind leg has a steeper and 
more pointed toe, and a more strongly concaved solar surface 
than the same bone of a foreleg. Not only is the outline of the 
sharp inferior border of the os pedis of a front foot more rounded 
at the toe, but when placed on a flat surface the toe does not 
touch by reason of being turned slightly upward, much as a 
shoe designed to give a “rolling motion.” The os pedis of a 
hind foot is narrower from side to side (pointed), and does not 
turn up at the toe. 

The right and left hoof-bones are also, as a rule, easily dis- 


28 HORSESHOEING. 


tinguished by variations in the surfaces of wall and sole. The 
shape of the os pedis corresponds to the form of the horny box 
or hoof, and therefore a knowledge of this bone is absolutely 
necessary, 

The navicular bone (os naviculare, nut-bone, Figs. 9 and 10) 
is an accessory or sesamoid bone to the os pedis. It is a small 
bone, transversely elongated 
and situated behind and below 
the og pedis and between the 
wings of the latter. It adds to 
the articular surface of the 
pedal joint. Its under surface 


lmicey Eig. 10. 


Fig. 9 represents the upper surface of the - | _ ] ] EASourey- i Fi 
navicular bone; Fig. 10 the lower surface of 1s smoot 1, anc acts as é g 1¢ Ing 


ane One eee ee subtace forthe pertorans tema em: 
which is quite wide at this point. 

The long axes of the three phalanges (os suffraginis, os co- 
rone, and os pedis) should unite to form a straight line, when 
viewed either from in front or from one side; that is, the direc- 
tion of each of these three bones should be the same as the com- 
mon direction of the three considered as a whole. 

In young colts both the long and short pasterns are in three parts 
and the pedal bone in two parts, all of which unite later in life to form 
their respective single bones. 

In mules and asses the os pedis is comparatively small and narrow. 
In cattle all three phalanges are double, and split hoofs cover the divided 
os pedis. 


B. The Articulations of the Foot. 


There are three articulations in the foot—namely, the fet- 
lock, coronary, and pedal joints. All are hinge-joints, the fet- 
lock being a perfect hinge-joint, and the other two imperfect 
hinge-joints. Each has a capsular ligament, and also several 
funicular or cord-like ligaments which are placed at the sides of 
(lateral ligaments), or behind (on the side of flexion) the joints. 

I. The fetlock or metacarpo-phalangeal articulation is 
formed by the condyles at the lower end of the cannon bone and 
the glenoid cavities formed by the union of the articular sur- 


HORSESHOEING. 29 


faces of the sesamoids and the upper end of the first phalanx. 
The following hgaments are about this joint: 

1. Two lateral liga- 
ments, an external and Bie: 1: 
an internal( Fig. 11, a). 

2. Two lateral sesa- 
moid ligaments (f). 

3. An iatersesamoid 
ligament (Fig. 12,b), a 
thick, fibrous mass, 
binding the sesamoid 
bones almost immovably 


together,extending 
above them and present- 
ing on its posterior face 
a ‘smooth groove, in 
which ghde the flexor 
tendons of the phal- 
anges (perforans and 
perforatus). 

4, The suspensory 
ligament of the fetlock 
(Cities alc) 12 cand 
13, c, pages 29 and 30). 
This may also be called 
the superior sesamoid 
ligament. It is a long 
and very powerful brace, originating on the lower row of carpal 
bones (bones of the hock in the hind leg’) and on the upper end 
of the cannon between the heads of the two splint-bones, and 
dividing at the lower third of the cannon into two branches (c), 
which are attached one to each sesamoid bone. Below these 
bones these two branches are prolonged obliquely downward and 
forward on opposite sides of the long pastern to pass into the 
borders of the anterior extensor tendon of the toe at about the 
middle of the long pastern (Fig. 14, b’, page 32). 


30 HORSESHOEING. 


Iie, ey 


Fig. 11 shows a side view, and Figs. 12 and 13 a posterior view of the phalangeal bones, 
with their articular ligaments. The lettering is the same in all three figures: a, lateral liga- 
ment of fetlock-joint; b, intersesamoid ligament; c, suspensory ligament of the fetlock; d, 
median branch of inferior sesamoid ligament; d’, lateral branches of inferior sesamoid liga- 
ment; e, deep inferior sesamoid ligament; f, lateral sesamoid ligaments; g, inferior coronary 
ligaments; h, superior coronary ligaments; h’, median coronary ligaments; 7, lateral pedal 
ligament; k, lateral coronary ligament and suspensory ligament of the navicular bone; J, 
interosseous ligament. 


5. The inferior sesamoid ligament (Figs. 11, d’, 12, d, d’, 


and 13, d', £). This originates at the lowest part of the sesamoid 
bones and intersesamoid ligament, and consists of three parts or 


HORSESHOEING. 31 


branches. The median branch (d) is the longest and strongest, 
and takes its lower attachment in the middle of the fibro-carti- 
laginous lip found on the upper border of the posterior face of 
the second phalanx. The two lateral branches (d') approach 
each other as they descend, and terminate on the sides of the 
roughened triangle on the posterior face of the first phalanx. 

6. The deep inferior sesamoid ligament (Fig. 18, e) is quite 
short, and consists of a number of distinct, thin fibrous bands 
lying directly against the bone and entirely covered by the 
median and lateral inferior sesamoid ligaments. These fibrous 
bands cross one another in passing from the sesamoids to the 
first phalanx. 

II. The coronary joint is the simplest of the three articula- 
tions of the foot. The long pastern furnishes two condyles and 
the short pastern two glenoid cavities. Besides a capsular liga- 
ment there are— 

= Two lateral coronary ligaments (k) and, 

. Six posterior coronary ligaments,——namely, two superior 
coronary ligaments (h), two median coronary ligaments (hi »; 
and two inferior coronary ligaments (q). 

IIT. The pedal articulation (“ coffin” joint) is an imper- 
fect hinge-joint, and is formed by the condyles at the lower end 
of the short pastern and the two glenoid cavities in the united 
upper surfaces of the pedal and navicular bones. Besides the 
capsular ligament (Figs. 12 and 13, /), which binds all three 
bones together, there are the following accessory ligaments: 

1. Two strong lateral ligaments, an external and an internal 
(Fig. 11, 7), whose posterior borders are lost in the lateral 
cartilages which cover them, 

2. Two lateral suspensory ligaments of the navicular bone 
(k). They begin on the posterior border and ends of the 
navicular bone, and terminate on the lower part of the anterior 
surface of the os suffraginis, where they are lost in the lateral 
ligaments of the coronary articulation. 

3. The lateral ligaments of the lateral cartilages, navicular 
bone, and os pedis. They are short, and unite the navicular 
bone with the os pedis and lateral cartilages. 


32 HORSESHOEING. 


Of the three phalangeal articulations, the pedal is the only 
one that permits of any lateral movement; hence it is an im- 


perfect. hinge-joint. 


C. The Locomotory Organs of the Foot. 


Though the muscles are the organs which produce motion, 


lie, ee 


ya 
| ) | 


A 


see oe 
ly im he \ \\ 


\\ \ \ 


Eee AIS \ s - 


Right forefoot viewed from in front and from the ex- 
ternal side: a, anterior extensor tendon of the toe; b, 
suspensory ligament of the fetlock; 6’, branch of the 
same passing forward and uniting with the extensor 
tendon of the toe; c, extensor tendon of the os suffraginis 
(absent in the hind leg), called the lateral extensor. 


i 


the horseshoer need con- 
cern himself only with 
the tendons of those 
muscles which extend 
and flex the phalanges. 
These tendons are 
either extensors or flex- 
ors. The extensors lie on 
the anterior face and the 
flexors on the posterior 


' face of the phalanges. 


The anterior exten- 
sor of —the—phalanges 
(Fig. 14, a) extends 
the long and short pas- 
terns and the hoof-bone ; 
it is broad, and made 
somewhat broader by re- 
ceiving the branches of 
the suspensory ligament 
(b’) that come from the 
sesamoid bones. It takes 
a firm attachment on 
the pyramidal eminence 
of the os pedis. In the 
forefeet the long pas- 
tern has a special exten- 


sor tendon (¢), which is known as the Jateral-eatensor. When the 


muscles to which these tendons are attached act,—that is, when 


HORSESHOEING. 30 


they draw themselves together, or contract, as we term this 
action,—the foot is carried forward (extended), 

There are two flexor tendons of the 
phalanges,—namely, the superficval 
(perforatus tendon) and the deep 
(perforans tendon). 

1. The superficial flexor or per- 
foratus tendon (Figs. 15, b, and 16, 
a, b) lies behind, immediately under 
the skin, and covers the deep flexor or 
perforans tendon. At the gliding sur- 
face between the sesamoid bones (Fig. 
15, f) it broadens, and forms a ring 
or tube (Fig. 15, 6’) through which 
the perforans tendon (a’”’) passes, 
while a ‘short distance farther down it 
bifureates, or divides into two 
branches (Figs. 15, 6”, and 16, b), 
which terminate, one on either side, 
partly on the inferior lateral borders 
of the first phalanx and partly on the 
fibro-cartilage of the second phalanx. 
Tt acts simultaneously on the long and 
short pasterns. 

2. The deep flexor or perforans 


Right forefoot seen from behind: a, lower end of the 
perforans tendon, cut through and hanging down, so 
that its anterior surface is visible; a’, lower expanded 
end (plantar aponeurosis) of this tendon, which attaches 
itself to the semilunar crest of the os pedis; a”, shallow 
groove which receives the slight elevation on the under 
surface of the navicular bone; a’”’, piece of the perforans 
tendon enclosed by the ring formed by the perforatus 
tendon; b, perforatus tendon bent over backward so that 
its anterior surface is visible; b’, ring of the perforatus tendon; b”, terminal branches of 
the same; the perforans tendon passes through the space between these two branches; c, 
navicular bone; d, suspensory ligament of the same; e, smooth surface on the os corone over 
which the perforans tendon glides; f, the smooth groove (sesamoid groove) on the posterior 
surface of the intersesamoid ligament for the gliding of the perforans tendon; g, body of the 
suspensory ligament of the fetlock; g’, terminal branches of the same, attaching to the sesa- 
moid bones. 


3 


34 HORSESHOEING. 


tendon (Figs. 15, a, and 16, c) is cylindrical and stronger than 
the perforatus tendon; above the fetlock-joint it lies between 
the perforatus and the suspensory liga- 
ment of the fetlock. At the sesamoid 
bones it passes through the ring formed 
by the perforatus tendon (Fig. 15, b’), 
then becomes broad and double-edged, 
passes between the two terminal 


Fig. 16. 


STM 


\ 
\\iih 


! Hy 


branches of the perforatus, glides over 
the fibro-eartilage of the second phalanx 
and over the inferior surface of the 
navicular bone, and finally ends on the 
semilunar crest of the third phalanx. 
In common with the perforatus tendon 
it flexes the foot. 

If at a point a few inches above the 
fetlock a limb be cut through from be- 
hind, the knife will pass successively 
through the following structures: skin, 
perforatus tendon, perforans tendon, 
suspensory ligament, cannon bone, 
lateral extensor tendon, anterior exten- 
sor tendon, and, lastly, the skin on the 
anterior surface of the limb. The flexor 
tendons are frequently thickened and 
shortened by inflammation due to in- 
jury, and as a result the foot is pulled 
backward and the hoof gradually be- 
comes more nearly upright,—.e., stub- 
by, steep-toed. A knowledge of the 


Right forefoot seen from behind and a little from the external side: a, perforatus tendon; 
b, terminal branches of the same; c, perforans tendon; d, annular ligament which attaches 
to the sesamoid bones: d’, the ‘‘x’’ ligament, which attaches by four branches to the os suf- 
fraginis;.d’, an upper branch of the same (the lower branches are not shown in the figure) ; 
e, reinforcing sheath of the perforans tendon, covering the under surface of the latter and 
attached by its branches at e’ to the lower end of the os suffraginis; f, suspensory ligament 
of the fetlock. 


HORSESHOEING. 35 


normal condition of the tendons is, therefore, absolutely 
necessary to the horseshoer. Both flexor tendons are em- 
braced and held in place by ligaments and fascia passing out 
from the phalanges (Figs. 16, d’, and 24, e, f). The extensor 
and flexor tendons essentially contribute to the strong union of 
the phalangeal bones, and especially to the support and stability 
of the fetlock-joint. The gliding of the tendons is made easy 
by the seeretion of a lubricating fluid, called synovia, from the 
inner surface of the sheaths which surround them. In thin- 
skinned well-bred horses with sound limbs one ean not only dis- 
tinctly feel the tendons through the skin, but can see their out- 
line. When the tendons and bones are free from all inflammatory 
thickenings, and the tendon sheaths are not visibly distended, we 
say that the leg is “ clean.” 


Mucous Bursze and Tendon Sheaths. 


Accessory to the tendons, there are in the foot roundish, 
membranous sacs (mucous burse) and membranous tubes (ten- 
don sheaths). Both contain a liquid resembling synovia (‘“‘ joint- 
water’), which facilitates the gliding of the tendons. These 
bursee and sheaths are often distended to form soft tumors, 
known as hygromata (“ wind-puffs,” ‘“ wind-galls ”’). 

(a) Mucous Burse.—They lie beneath tendons at those 
places where the tendons pass over bony prominences, 

1. The mucous bursa of the anterior extensor tendon of the 
toe is about the size of a walnut, and lies between the tendon 
and the capsular ligament of the fetlock-joint (Figs. 17, g, and 
18, e). 

2. The mucous bursa of the extensor tendon of the long pas- 
tern (lateral extensor) is somewhat smaller, and lies, likewise, 
beneath the tendon, between it and the capsular ligament of the 
fetlock-joint (Fig. 17, h). 

3. The mucous bursa of the navicular region lies between 
the under surface (gliding surface) of the navicular bone and 
the flexor pedis perforans tendon (deep flexor). Its width 


36 HORSESHOEING. 


equals the length of the navicular bone, and it extends upward 
and downward beyond the bone. Above, it is separated from 
the sheath of the perforans tendon (‘ great sesamoid sheath ”’ ) 
by a membranous partition; below, it passes to the attachment 
of the perforans tendon to the semilunar crest of the os pedis. 


(b) There is but one tendon sheath in the foot,—the sheath 
common to the two flexor tendons (great sesamoid sheath), It 


1G, 1%. 


Right forefoot seen from the external side; 
t, ff", f'", great sesamoid sheath (tendon- 
sheath); g, mucous bursa beneath anterior 
extensor tendon of the toe; h, mucous bursa 
beneath extensor tendon of long pastern; 7, 
synovial distension of the fetlock-joint; 7, 
suspensory ligament; 9, cannon bone; 10, 
outer sesamoid bone; 12, fetlock-joint; 13, 
lateral cartilage; 14, suspensory ligament of 
the lateral cartilage. (Ellenberger in Lei- 
sering’s Atlas and Veterinary Anatomy, 
Sisson, Saunders.) 


Fie. 18. 


Right forefoot seen from the inner side; d, 
d’, d"”, d’"’, great sesamoid sheath; e, mucous 
bursa beneath anterior extensor tendon of 
the toe; f, synovial distension of fetlock- 
joint; 10, inner sesamoid bone; 11, ‘*x”’ liga- 
ment; 14, fetlock-joint; 15, lateral cartilage; 
16, suspensory ligament of lateral cartilage 
(Ellenberger in Leisering’s Atlas and Veteri- 
nary Anatomy, Sisson, Saunders.) 


encloses the flexor tendons from the middle third of the cannon 
down to the middle of the short pastern, and is intimately united 
with the flexor pedis perforans tendon (Fig. 17, f, f’, f’, f’””. 


Kiel i8,d,d, a7 ad). 
Altering the Relative Tension of the Flexor Tendons and 
Suspensory Ligament of the Fetlock-Joint. 


The body-weight imposed at the fetlock-joint is supported, 
in large part, by the suspensory ligament; somewhat less weight 


HORSESHOEING. Oo” 


is borne by the perforans tendon, and a still smaller amount by 
the perforatus. The coronary joint is supported chiefly by the 
perforatus, assisted by the perforans. The pedal joint is pressed 
forward and upward by the perforans tendon passing in a curve 
beneath the navicular bone. Each of these three structures bears 
its normal proportion of the body-weight when the three pha- 
langes, as viewed from the side, form a continuous straight line 
from the fetlock-joint to the ground. In such a ease the obliquity 
of the long pastern will be the same as that of the toe (see 
Foot-Axis, p. 70). :; 

Raising the toe by means of a tip, a full shoe with thinned 
branches or a toe-calk, or paring away the quarters will tilt the 
os pedis backward, break 
the foot-axis backward in 
the pedal joint and to a 
less extent in the coron- 
ary joint, and increase 
the tension of the per- 
forans tendon consider- 
ably and of the perfo- 
ratus slightly. These 
tendons tightening — be- 
hind the  fetlock - joint 


force it forward, causing Right forefoot viewed from the external side: A, os 
the long pastern to stand feioral pedal ligament; b, ligament uniting the letoral 
steeper, and taking some cartilage with the os corone; c, aponeurosis joining 

3 lateral cartilage and os pedis. 
strain from the suspen- 
sory ligament. Hence, the perforans tendon is under greatest 
tension, and the suspensory ligament under least tension, when 
the foot-axis 1s broken strongly backward. 

Shortening the toe, or raising the quarters by heel-calks or 
thickened branches, will tilt the os pedis forward, break the 
foot-axis forward in the pedal joint, and will greatly lessen the 
tension of the perforans tendon. The aggregate tension of 
perforans and perforatus tendons being diminished, the fetlock 


38 HORSESHOEING. 


sinks downward and backward, the long pastern assumes a more 
nearly horizontal direction, and the tension of the suspensory 
ligament is increased. Thus, the perforans tendon is under 
least tension, and the suspensory ligament under greatest strain, 
when the foot-axis is broken strongly forward. 


D. The Elastic Parts of the Foot. 


All bodies which under pressure or traction change their 
form, but return again to their original shape as soon as the 
pressure or traction ceases, are called elastic or springy. Nearly 


Pies 20: 


i iN 


LN 
‘ WSs 


\\ 


Os pedis and inner face of one lateral cartilage; a, toe of os pedis; a’, pyramidal eminence 
to which the extensor tendon attaches; a”, wing of pedal bone; b, lateral cartilage; C, points 
of attachment of suspensory ligament of lateral cartilage; d, point of insertion of ligament 
to the short pastern; e, point of insertion of ligaments from navicular bone. 


all parts of the horse’s foot, except the bones, possess more or 
less elasticity. The lateral cartilages and the plantar cushion 
are elastic to a high degree, but the coronary band, the lamine, 
the articular cartilage, and the horny box or hoof are less elastic. 
This property or characteristic 1s possessed by the respective 


HORSESHOEING. 39 


parts of the foot in accordance with their function, location, 


and structure. 


The two lateral cartilages (Figs. 19, C and 20, b) are 


Ieuiel, PAL 


Plantar cushion seen from be- 
low: a, base or bulb of the plantar 
cushion; 6, summit; c, median 
lacuna or cleft in which lies the 
“frog-stay’’ of the horny frog. 


\ H i 


6 


Plantar cushion seen from above: a, base 
(bulbs) of same; b, summit; c, supensory liga- 
ment of plantar cushion; d, place at which the 
elastic ligament connecting the os suffraginis 
and the lateral cartilage unites with the plan- 
tar cushion. 


irregular, quadrangular plates, attached to the wings of the os 
pedis, and extending so far upward and backward that one ean 


feel them yield to pressure on 
the skin above the coronet, and 
can thus test their elasticity. 
The perforans tendon and the 
plantar cushion lie between 
the lateral cartilages, and on 
the sides and behind are par- 
tially enclosed by them. The 
internal concave surface of the 
lateral cartilage (Fig. 20) is 
attached to the plantar 


Nie, PR. 


Section lengthwise through middle of the 
plantar cushion: a, glome (bulb) of heels; 5, 
apex or point of fleshy frog; c, fibro fatty 
tissue of plantar cushion; d, median cleft 
which receives the frog-stay of the horny 
frog. 


cushion, the os pedis, and the navicular bone, and, like the 
external, slightly convex surface, is covered with many blood- 


vessels (veins) Fig. 25, B). 


40 HORSESHOEING. 


The plantar cushion (Figs. 21, 22, 23) is composed almost 
entirely of yellow elastic and white fibrous tissues, with adipose 
(fat) cells distributed throughout their substance. It is similar 
in form to the horny frog, and 
lies between it and the perforans 
tendon (Fig. 24, a). The bulbs 
are formed by the posterior 
thicker portion which hes be- 
tween the lateral cartilages and 
is divided into two parts by the 
cleft or median lacuna (Figs. 
21, a, and 23, d). The summit 
is attached to the plantar face 
of the os pedis in front of the 
semilunar crest, and the bulbs 
are attached to the lateral car- 
tilages. It is covered inferiorly 
by the velvety tissue of the frog 
(pododerm). 


Right forefoot viewed from below, behind, 
and the external side. This figure shows 
clearly the position of the plantar cushion. 
The external lateral cartilage and the tissues 
covering the plantar cushion and under sur- 
face of the os pedis (velvety tissue of the sole 
and fleshy frog) have been removed: a, fleshy 
frog or plantar cushion; a’, bulbs of plantar 
cushion; the remaining visible parts belong to 
the so-called ‘‘ fleshy frog;’’ a”, groove (median 
lacuna) in the lower surface of the fleshy frog, 
in which lies the frog-stay of the horny frog; 
b, suspensory ligament of the plantar cushion 
passing out of the bulbs; b’, small elastic cords 
passing to the lateral cartilage; c, elastic liga- 

NY ment coming from the lateral cartilage and 
\ iN uniting with the suspensory ligament of the 
a plantar cushion; d, small tendinous cord be- 

Ni ‘ , ginning in the skin behind the fetlock-joint 

AAS LXE and ending on the os suffraginis in common 

ae with b and c; e, tendinous reinforcing sheath of 

the perforans tendon; f, reinforcing stay of the 

perforatus tendon; g, perforatus tendon; h, 

perforans tendon; 7, suspensory ligament of the fetlock; k, plantar surface of the os pedis, to 
which the plantar cushion is joined by fibrous bands. 


\ 


HORSESHOEING. 41 


E. The Blood-Vessels and Nerves. 


Vessels which carry blood from the heart to the tissues are 
called arteries, while those which return the blood to the heart 
from the tissues are called veins. Arteries and veins are con- 
nected by very small, thread-like vessels called capillaries, which 
originate in the smallest arteries and are so minute that they 
ean not be seen without the aid of a microscope. The capillaries 
penetrate the soft tissues in every direction, and finally unite to 
form small veins. For our purpose we need consider only the 
arteries and veins. 

The arteries carrying blood from the heart ramify and sub- 
divide in all parts of the body, and thus reach the foot. They 
are thick-walled, very elastic tubes, without valves, and carry 
bright-red blood, which flows in spurts, as can be seen when an 
artery is cut. Ifa finger be pressed hghtly over an artery lying 
near the surface, the blood-wave can be felt as a light stroke 
(pulse). The character of the pulse is important, because in 
inflammations of the pododerm or horn-producing membrane 
of the foot we can ascertain by feeling that the pulse is stronger 
than usual in the large arteries carrying blood to the inflamed 
foot. 

On either side of the phalanges below the fetlock-joint there 
hes an artery called the digital artery (Fig. 25, a). The pulse 
ean be felt in it as it passes over the fetlock at A, Fig. 25. It 
gives off the following collateral (side) branches: 1. The artery 
of the first phalanx (perpendicular artery), with anterior and 
posterior branches. 2. The artery of the plantar cushion, which 
supplies with blood the plantar cushion, the velvety tissue of 
the sole and frog, the bar portion of the coronary band, and the 
sensitive lamine of the bars. 38. The coronary artery, which 
earries blood to the coronary band, os corone, ligaments of the 
coronary and pedal joints, flexor tendons, and skin. 

The terminal branches of the digital arteries are the preplan- 
tar and plantar ungual arteries. The preplantar artery passes 


42 HORSESHOEING. 


through the notch in the wing of the os pedis, then along the 
preplantar fissure, splitting up into many branches, which spread 
over and penetrate the porous surface of the os pedis. The 


Frc 25: 


Side view of forefoot, showing blood-vessels and nerves: a, digital artery; b, anterior artery 
of the os suffraginis; d, anterior coronary artery, or circumflex artery of the coronet; e,’ pre- 
plantar ungual artery; /’, inferior communicating arteries passing out from the semilunar 
artery of the os pedis, through minute holes just above the lower border of the bone; they 
unite to form (f”) the circumflex artery of the toe; A, digital vein; B, superficial venous 
plexus of coronary band and lateral cartilage; C, podophyllous venous plexus; G, circumflex 
vein of the toe; 1, plantar nerve; 2, anterior digital branch of same; 3, posterior digital branch 
of same; 4, small cutaneous branches of same. 


plantar artery courses along the plantar fissure, enters the 
plantar foramen, and passes into the semilunar sinus of the os 
pedis, where it unites with the terminal branch of the opposite 
digital artery, forming the sem-lunar arch. 


HORSESHOEING. 43 


After the arterial or pure blood passes through the capil- 
laries it is collected by the veins, to be returned to the heart; 
then it is driven to the lungs for purification, and is again re- 


turned to the heart, from 
whence it is pumped through 
the arteries to all parts of 
the body. 

The veins are more 
numerous than the arteries ; 
they have thinner walls, 
and the larger ones are pro- 
vided with valves that pre- 
vent the impure blood from 
flowing backward. The 
veins carry impure or dark- 
red blood towards the heart, 
and if one is opened the 
dark blood flows in a steady 
stream; it does not spurt. 
The great number of vein- 
lets in the lower parts of 
the foot form a complex 
net-work (plexus) of ves- 
sels which are in such mani- 
fold and close union with 
one another that checking 
the flow of blood in one part 
does not seriously interfere 
with the flowing of the 
blood towards the larger 
veins. The following are 
the most important of these 


Fic. 26. 


a |i 


\ 


Foot viewed from below and behind: a, digital 
arteries; c, arteries of the plantar cushion; /’”, 
small branches of the semilunar artery of the os 
pedis, which ramify in the velvety tissue of the 
sole; A, digital vein; B, venous plexus of the heels 
or bulbs; D, solar venous plexus; G, circumflex 
vein of the toe; 3, posterior digital branch of the 
plantar nerve; 4, cutaneous branches of the same. 


net-works of veins or venous plexuses: (1) the solar venous 
plexus (Fig. 26, D); (2) the podophyllous venous plexus (Fig. 
25, C); (3) superficial coronary venous plexus (Fig. 25, B); 


44 HORSESHOEING. 


(4) bulbar venous plexus (Fig. 26, B). All these plexuses of 
small veins contribute to form the OP veins (Figs. 25 and 
26, A). 

Nerves are roundish white cords which come from the brain 
and spinal cord; they generally accompany arteries. They 
divide and subdivide into smaller and smaller branches till they 
become invisible to the naked eye and are lost in the tissues. 
The nerves that are found in the foot come from the spinal 
cord, and because the largest nerves of the foot accompany the 
digital arteries they are called digital nerves (Fig. 25,1). The 
branches ramify throughout all parts of the foot except the 
horny box and the hair. Nerves, according to their use or 
function, are classed as motor and sensory. ‘The motor nerves 
end in muscles which they stimulate to action and control. The 
sensory nerves terminate in the skin and in the soft tissues just 
under the horny box or hoof (pododerm), and render these 
parts sensitive; that is, they convey certain feelings, as, for 
example, the pain caused by bruising, pricking, or close-nailing, 
to the brain and consciousness. 


F. The Protective Organs of the Foot. 


The protective organs are the skin and the horny box or hoof. 

The external skin, or hide, covers the entire body ; in the feet 
it covers the bones, tendons, and ligaments, even passing in 
under the hoof and directly covering the os pedis. This portion 
of the skin, enclosed by the hoof and therefore invisible, is called 
the pododerm or foot-skin. In Germany it is called the hoof- 
skin (huflederhaut), because it is a continuation of the outer 
visible skin, and because it secretes the hoof,—that is, the hoof 
is produced by it. That part of the skin which is covered with 
hair is known as the external or hair-skin. 

(a) The hair-skin (Fig. 27, a) consists of three superposed 
layers,—(1) the external superficial layer, or epidermis; (2) 
the middle layer, derm or leather-skin (so-called because leather 
is made from it); (3) the internal layer, or subcutaneous con- 
nective tissue. 


HORSESHOEING. 45 


1. The external layer, or epidermis, is composed merely of 
single flattened, horn-like cells (scales) lying side by side and 
over one another, and uniting to form one entire structure,—a 
thin, horn-like layer, without blood-vessels or nerves. It extends 
over the entire surface of the body, and protects the underlying, 
very sensitive middle layer from external influences. The 
oldest cell-layers le on the outer surface, and are being con- 
tinuously brushed off in patches or scales, while new ones are 
constantly being formed on 
the outer surface of the Fic. 27. 
middle layer. 

2. The middle layer, 
leather-skin or dermis, is 
composed of solid, fibrous, 
and elastic tissues, and con- 
tains many blood-vessels, 
small nerves, sweat- and oil- , 
glands, and hair follicles 
from which the hair grows. 
The hair upon the posterior 
surface of the fetlock-joint 
is usually long and coarse, Foot from which the horny capsule or hoof, has 


: been removed by prolonged soaking: a, skin; on 
forming a tuft known as the the left the hair has been rubbed away; b, perio- 


(43 L. 3) [ts plic band; c, coronary cushion; d, podophyllous 
footlock, W hich encloses tissue (fleshy leaves); at the lower border of the 


a horny spur, ealled the figure can be seen the minute thread-like pro- 
cesses or villi which grow down from the lower 

ergot. Common bred horses end of each fleshy leaf. 

have, as a rule, larger and 

coarser footlocks than thoroughbreds. The derm or leather- 

skin, which produces the hair and epiderm, is the thickest and 

most important layer of the skin. 

3. The inner layer, or subcutaneous tissue, unites the middle 
layer with the muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, or other 
structures. It is that loose fibrous mesh or net-work through 
which the butcher cuts in removing the hide from the carcass. 


(b) The hoof-skin (Figs. 27 and 28, b, c, d), or pododerm, 


46 HORSESHOEING. 


is completely enclosed by the hoof. Although it is only an ex- 
tension of the derm or middle layer of the hair-skin, it differs 
from the latter in structure and relations. 

In order to study the pododerm we should not wrench the 
hoof off with violence, but should allow the foot to partially de- 
compose by leaving it for six to eight days at ordinary room tem- 

Fin Oe perature; it can then be 
oe removed without injuring 
\ 


the pododerm. After the 
hoof has been removed the 


gS i. 
\\\ e 3 entire pododerm presents a 
Cg a more or less dark-red color 


(flesh-color), which is due 
z to the great number of 
blood-vessels that it con- 
tains. For this reason dif- 
ferent parts of the podo- 
derm have received the 
prefix “ fleshy,” as for ex- 


K"( wt 


y ym 
q 


B= N 


N =< \ 
aN \\ . 
wt Mos a 


ANTONE SS 


Z qa s 
Foot from which the near half of the horny wall d 
and a greater part of the so-called fleshy wall have ample, fleshy wall, fleshy 


been removed, in order to show the relation of the | 
lateral cartilage to adjacent structures: a, vertical sole, fleshy frog, ete. ihe 


section of the skin prolonged downward through the ~ 7 y = 
pododerm (foot-skin) to show clearly that the latter pododer GTS DSi hat the ae 


is but a continuation of the former; a’, hairless place jnformed horseshoer ealls 
on the skin; b, perioplic band; b’, line indicating the fe 2 3 : 
upper border of the same; 6b”, surface of section of the quick. iE will here 


the periople, or perioplic horn-band; c, coronary _, is 
cushion; c’, (left) line which marks the upper border Y emark that the three 


of te coronary SEES cl section of wall at BE layers of the external or 
toe; d, podophyllous tissue (sensitive lamine); e, « 
horny sole; f, white line; g, horny frog; h, fleshy frog; hairskin are represented 
7, lateral cartilage. a 

in the foot; however, the 
epidermis is in an entirely different form,—namely, the horny 
box or hoof. The internal layer or subeutaneous tissue of the 
hair-skin is absent in those parts of the foot where the pododerm 
covers the os pedis. There remains, therefore, only the middle 
layer, derm, or pododerm, which secretes the hoof, and which is 
the prolongation and representative of the middle layer of the 
hair-skin. The pododerm is distinguished from the derm of 


HORSESHOEING. AT 


the hair-skin chiefly by the absence of hairs, oil- and sweat- 
glands, and the presence on its outer surface of fleshy, sensitive 
Jaminze and small thread-like projections ealied vill. 

The pododerm consists of five different parts: the perioplic 
band, the coronary band, the sensitive lamine (podophyllous 


tissue), the velvety tissue of the sole, and the velvety tissue of 


the fleshy frog. 

1. The pertoplic band (Fig. 28, b) is a narrow ridge, about 
one-fifth to one-fourth of an inch wide, lying between the hair- 
skin and the coronary band. Somewhat broader at the toe than 
on the sides, 1t broadens out near the bulbs of the heels, over 
which it passes to end in the velvety tissue of the fleshy frog. 
It is separated from the coronary band by a narrow depression 
ealled the coronary furrow (Moeller). The surface of the 
periophe band glistens faintly, and is thickly studded with num- 
erous thread-like projections called villi, which are from one- 
twenty-fourth to one-twelfth of an inch in length. The perioplic 
band secretes the soft horn of the perioplic ring and the 
perioplic or varnish-like outer layer of the wall. 

2. The coronary band (Fig. 27, c) lies between the perioplie 
band and the sensitive lamine or fleshy leaves. It presents a 
prominent convex band or cushion about three-fourths of an 
inch wide, which extends entirely around the foot from one 
bulb of the heel to the other. In front it directly covers the 
anterior extensor tendon of the toe, and at the sides the lateral 
surfaces of the os corone and the upper part of the lateral 
cartilages, while farther back towards the heels the lateral car- 
tilages project considerably above both coronary and _ perioplic 
bands. The coronary band is more convex (rounded) in front 
than on the sides of the foot, and is flattened in the region of 
the bulbs of the heels. Its surface is thickly covered with villi, 
which are longer and stronger than those of the perioplic band. 
At the bulbs of the heels the coronary band turns forward and 
inward along the fleshy frog’ nearly to its summit. This portion 
of the coronary band is from one-third to one-half an inch wide, 


48 HORSESHOEING. 


and is called the bar portion of the coronary band. It is also 
covered with villi, which are directly continuous with those of 
the fleshy frog. The coronary band secretes the principal part 
(middle layer) of the horny wall of the hoof, including the 
bar portion (bars) of the wall. 

3. The fleshy wall, or podophyllous tissue (Figs. 27, 28, d, 
and 29, a), is all that portion of the pododerm on which there 
are fleshy lcaves. This leafy tissue covers the anterior surface 
of the os pedis and the lower por- 


Fig. 29. 


tion of the external surface of the 
lateral cartilages. At the bulbs of 
the heels it turns inward at a sharp 
angle and extends forward and in- 
ward, between the bar portion of 
the coronary band and the poste- 
rior part of the velvety tissue of 
the sole, nearly to the middle of 
the solar surface of the foot, to 
form the lamine of the bars (Fig. 
29, a). The fleshy wall and fleshy 
bars are not covered with villi, but 
_ Plantar surface of a foot deprived of with numerous prominent, paral- 
its horny capsule by prolonged macera- 

tion: a, lamine of the bars; 6, velvety lel, fleshy leaves placed close to- 
tissue of the sole; c, velvety tissue of the : 5 
frog: d, median cleft of the fleshy frog, gether, each of which runs in a 
mnie which the, Nelyeuwy, Hesue bse otraien, shine doywayarder ang akon 


bulbar portion of the perioplic band, 


which passes insensibly into the velvety ward from the eoronarv band to 
tissue of the fleshy frog. eg 


the lower border of the os pedis. 
Between the fleshy leaves are deep furrows in which, in a 
foot which has not been deprived of its horny capsule, lie the 
horny or insensitive leaves of the wall. The fleshy leaves (podo- 
phyllous laminz) are related to one another somewhat as the 
leaves of a book; their posterior borders are attached to the body 
or basement membrane of the fleshy wall, while their anterior 
borders and sides are free. At their upper ends immediately 
below the coronary band the leaves are quite narrow, but they 


HORSESHOEING. 49 


gradually increase in width down to the middle, and thereafter 
maintain that breadth to the lower border of the os pedis, where 
they terminate in free, fleshy villi, which differ in no respect 
from those of the fleshy sole. The number and length of the 
fleshy leaves vary; in a medium-sized foot there are about five 
hundred, while in a large foot there may be as many as six 
hundred. On the anterior surface of the os pedis the leaves are 
thickest and longest; on the sides and quarters they gradually 
decrease in length, while in the bar region they are the shortest 
and gradually disappear near the anterior ends of the bars. 
The width of the leaves decreases as they become shorter. Viewed 
with the naked eye the leaves appear flat and smooth, but under 
the microscope one can see on both sides of a fleshy leaf numer- 
ous small, fleshy leaflets parallel to one another and extending 
lengthwise with the larger leaf. The large ones are called prin- 
cipal leaves, and the small ones are known as collateral leaves, 
or simply as leaflets. 

The fleshy leaves (podophyllous tissue) secrete the horny 
leaves (keraphyllous tissue) and serve to bind the horny wall 
to the pododerm. ‘The strength of this union is due largely 
to the dovetailing of the horny leaves and their leaflets with 
the fleshy leaves and their leaflets. 

4, The fleshy sole or velvety tissue of the sole (Fig. 29, b) 
is that part of the pododerm which covers all the under sur- 
face of the foot except the plantar cushion, the bar lamin, and 
the bar portion of the coronary band. It is sometimes slate- 
colored or studded with black spots, but is usually dark red. 
It is thickly set with villi, which are especially long and 
strong * near its periphery. The fleshy sole covers the solar 
plexus, or net-work of veins, and secretes the horny sole. 

5. The velvety tissue of the frog (Fig. 29, c) covers the 


*In order to see the length, thickness, and abundance of the villi 
of the pododerm, place the foot deprived of its hoof in a clear glass 
jar and cover it with water, renewing the latter until it is no longer 
tinged with blood. 

4 


50 HORSESHOEING. 


lower surface of the plantar cushion, and in the region of the 
bulbs (e) passes insensibly into the perioplic band. In com- 
parison with the fleshy sole, it has much finer and shorter villi 
and contains fewer blood-vessels. It secretes the soft, horny 
frog. 

(c) The horn capsule or hoof (Fig. 30) is the entire mass 
made up of the horn-cells secreted from the whole surface of 
the pododerm, and next 
to the shoe is the organ 
with which the horse- 
shoer has most to do. 
The horn capsule or hoof 
is nothing more than a 


Imaes 10), 


very thick epidermis that 
protects the horse’s foot, 
just as a well-fitting shoe 
protects the human foot. 
The hoof of a sound foot 
is so firmly united with 


Side view of hoof recently removed: a, the perioplic ‘ : 
horn-band; it is swollen from prolonged maceration in the underlying pododerm 


water; the upper border shows adhering hairs; the F Als 
inner surface (perioplic groove) presents many minute that only an extraor din- 


openings; a’, the perioplic horn-band broadens in reyes ar 
passing over the bulb or glome of the heel, and is ay fou ey cat separate 


finally lost in the horny frog; a”, section of wall ree them. In its normal econ- 
moved. That part of hoof on the right of 6 is called 7 

the toe; between 6 and cis the side wall or ‘‘mamma,’’ dition the hoof exactly 
and between c and d the ‘‘quarter;’’ e, projecting fi ] eS f : 
horny frog; f, coronary groove with numerous minute ts the ‘soit structures 


ate g, keraphyllous layer of the wall (horny within Nee hence it is 


evident that local or 
general contraction of the hoof must produce pressure on the 
blood-vessels and nerve-endings of the pododerm, disturb the 
circulation of the blood and the nutrition of the foot, and 
cause pain. 

The hoof is divided into three principal parts, which are 
solidly united in the healthy foot,—namely, the wall, the sole, 
and the frog. That part of the hoof which is almost wholly 
visible when the foot is on the ground (Fig. 30, b, ¢), and which 


HORSESHOEING. 51 


protects the foot in front and upon the sides, is known as the 
wall. In position, course, direction, and arrangement of its 
parts it simulates the different parts of the pododerm from 
which it is developed. It extends from the edge of the hair 
just above the coronary band to the ground; backward it gradu- 
ally decreases in height 
(length), passes around the 
bulbs of the heels, and 
turns forward and inward 
(Fig. 32, d, e, and 34, a, b) 
to form the bars, which are 
finally lost in the edge of 
the sole near the summit of 
the frog. It thus forms at 
each heel an angle (Fig. 
31, d, and 32, d) known as 
a buttress, which encloses a 
branch of the horny sole. 
Externally the wall is 
smooth, covered with the 
varnish-like periople, and 
presents indistinct ring-like 


markings (Fig. 30). Its 


Eig. 31. 


A Plantar surface of right fore-hoof: a, a, bearing- 
inner surface, on the CON- surface of the toe; a, b, bearing-surface of the side 

walls or mamme; b c, bearing-surface of the 
trary, presents a great quarters; d, buttress, or angle formed by wall and 


= bar; e, bar; f, sole; f’, branches of the sole; g, 
num b er of horn-leav es white line; it passes between the sole and bars and 


which } J- ends at g’; h, horny frog; 7, branches of the frog; 
G BUN spoken of col k, heels, bulbs, or glomes of the hoof; 7, median 
lectively as the keraphyl- lacuna of horny frog. Between the bars and the 


ave Hineiic (Figs, 32, g. horny frog lie the SEL lacune of the frog. 

and 35, f). The upper or coronary border of the wall is thin 
and flexible, and on its inner aspect is the coronary groove, into 
which fits the coronary band (Fig. 30, f). The lower border 
of the wall, called the “ bearing-edge ” or plantar border (Fig. 
31, a), is the one to which the horseshoe is fastened. By divid- 
ing a hoof from before to behind along its median line, outer 


x 


52 HORSESHOEING. 


and inner halves or walls are produced, and by dividing the 
entire lower circumference of the wall into five equal parts or 
sections, a toe, two side walls or mamme, and two quarters 
will be exhibited (Figs. 32 and 33). In order to designate these 
regions of the hoof still more accurately, they are spoken of as 
outer and inner toes, quarters, and heels. 

The direction (slant) and length of the wall vary in one 
and the same hoof, as well as 
between fore and hind hoofs. 

th The portion of the wall of 
ale fore hoofs is the most slant- 

ing,—that is, forms the most 

acute angle with the surface 
of the ground,—and is also 
the longest. Towards the 
quarters the wall gradually 
‘becomes very nearly vertical ; 
in almost all hoofs the pos- 
terior part of the quarters 
slants downward and inward 
towards the median vertical 
Se antero-posterior plane of the 
2 foot. At the same time the 

Well nape fee ay eae wall, in passing back from the 


e, bar; g, horn leaves; h, space occupied by toe to the heel, becomes 
the frog. 


mu! 


Wis aN 


gradually shorter in such a 
manner that the heights of the toe, side walls, and quarters 
are related to one another about as 3:2:1 in front hoofs 
and as 4:3:2 in hind hoofs. The outer wall is, as a rule, 
somewhat more slanting than the inner. Viewing a foot 
in profile, the toe and heel should be parallel; that is, the 
line from the hair to the ground at the toe should be parallel 
to the line from the hair to the ground at the buttress. 
All deviations of the wall from a straight line (out- 


HORSESHOEING. 53 


ward or inward bendings) are to be regarded as faults or 
defects. 

The thickness of the wall is also variable. In front hoofs 
the wall is thickest at the toe, 
and becomes gradually thinner 
towards the quarters, while in 
hind hoofs, there is very little 
difference in the thickness of 
the wall of the toe, sides, and 
quarters. The more slanting 
half of the hoof 1s always the 
thicker ; thus, for example, the 
outer wall of a base-wide foot 
is always longer and more A hoof in profile; a, toe (one half); b, side 
oblique than the inner wall, pe aN 
and is also thicker. According to Mayer, the thickness of the 
wal] at the toe varies from three- to five-eighths of an inch, and 
at the quarters from 
two to three eighths 
of an inch. These 
measurements are de- 
pendent upon the 
size and breeding of 
the horse, 

The horn wall is 
composed of three 
superposed layers. 


These from without Vertical section through the middle of a hoof, with horny 

18 ns frog removed, to show the position of the bar: a, b, marks 

to within are: (1) the line at which the wall bends forward and inward to- 

" wards the median line of the foot to become the bar. Bar 

the periople, secreted runs forward and passes imperceptibly into the sole c; a, a’, 

by the perioplic band. the light shading shows the part of the bar that was in con- 
tact with the horny frog. 


Fie. 34. 


It is very thin, 
glistening, and varnish-like in appearance, and covers the 
entire outer surface of the wall, except where it has been 
removed by the rasp, and prevents rapid evaporation of 


54 HORSESHOEING. 


moisture from the horn. (2) The middle or protective 
layer (Fig. 35, d) is the thickest, strongest, and most im- 
portant of the three layers; it forms the principal mass of 
the wall, and is developed or secreted by the coronary band, 
which fits into the coronary groove. There are in the coronary 
groove a great number of small, funnel-shaped openings into 
which project the horn-producing villi or papillz of the coro- 


Dine, Ba, 


Pitan 


The outer wall of the hoof has been removed by cutting vertically through the middle of 
the toe, down to the upper surface of the sole, then horizontally backward into the quarter, 
and, finally, upward through the quarter: a, perioplic horn-band; 6, coronary groove; it 
turns inward and forward at c to form the upper border of the bar; d, surface of section of 
the wall at the toe; d’, at the quarter; e, surface of horizontal section of the wall near its 
lower border; f, keraphyllous layer of the wall; at f’ it turns forward and inward to cover 
the bar; f’’, horny leaves standing free and passing insensibly into the white horn of the 
middle layer or true wall; g, horny sole; h, white line; 7, small horn-spur in middle of toe; 
k, part of horny frog which is in intimate union with the upper edge of the bar; J, frog-stay 
of horny frog; it divides the trough-like depression of the upper surface of the frog into m, 
the two upper channels of the frog. 


nary band. (3) The inner layer or keraphyllous layer (Tig. 
35, f) consists of prominent, parallel horn-leaves lying side by 
side over the entire inner surface of the middle layer of the 
wall, and continuing beyond the buttresses to the ends of the 
bars (Fig. 35, f’). This layer of horn-leaves (keraphyllous 
layer) has in a general way about the same shape and arrange- 
ment as the layer of fleshy leaves (podophyllous layer) which 
secretes it; for the horn-leaves fit in with the fleshy leaves in 
such a way that every fleshy leaf is embraced by two horn- 


HORSESHOEING. 55 


leaves, and every horn-leaf by two fleshy leaves (Fig. 36). The 
keraphyllous layer and the horn of the inmost part of the 
middle or protective layer are always white, even in pigmented 
(colored) hoofs. 

The horn sole (Fig. 31, /, and Fig. 35, g) is secreted by 
the velvety tissue of the sole. A sole from which the loose 


SI 


, Ze) ‘4 


y) 


Si) 
Wy YA 
“Wy, fi Uff Ny 
y YY Zs Ni) 


oh 


Cross-section of keraphyllous and podophyllous laming (horny and fleshy leaves): a, inmost 
part of the solid wall; the horn-tubes approach very close to the horny leaves; b, body of the 
podophyllous membrane; c, horny portion of a horn-leaf directly continuous with the middle 
or principal layer of the wall; c’, a rudimentary horn-leaf that does not reach the body of the 
podophyllous membrane; c’’, cross-section of horny leaves from the sides of which branch 
many secondary leaves (leaflets) composed of soft (young) horn-cells. These soft cellular 
horn-leaflets dovetail with the podophyllous or fleshy leaflets; d, podophyllous laminz ex- 
tending from the body of the podophyllous membrane; d’, podophyllous laminzw which have 
branched in their course to the wall, and thus given rise to c’, rudimentary horn-leaves; d’’, 
cross-section of podophyllous leaflets extending from the sides of the podophyllous leaves; 
each two such leaflets secrete a keraphyllous leaflet between them; e, injected arterial vessels. 


flakes of old horn have been removed is about as thick as the 
wall. It covers the under surface of the foot, and presents 
upon its upper surface a convexity which exactly fits into the 
concavity on the under surface of the os pedis. This upper 
surface is thickly covered by a multitude of minute funnel- 
shaped openings for the reception of the villi of the velvety 
tissue of the sole (Fig. 37). The lower surface of the sole is 
more or less concave, rough, uneven, and often covered by loose 


56 HORSESHOEING. 


scales of dead horn. Behind, the sole presents a triangular 
opening whose borders lie partly in contact with the horny frog 
and partly with the bars. This opening or re-entering angle 
divides the sole into a body (Fig. 31, f) and two wings or 
branches (Fig. 51, f’). The outer border of the sole unites 
through the medium of the white line with the lower part of 
the inner surface of the wall,—that is, with the keraphyllous 


Vertical section of the horny sole magnified: a, 
funnel-shaped openings which contain the horn- 
producing villi of the fleshy sole; they are of 
various sizes; b, horn-tubes; c, intertubular 
horn. 


layer of the wall. This white 
line «(igs 731, g, cand. 35...) 01 
so much importance to the horse- 
shoer, is formed by the horn- 
leaves, and by those short plugs 
of tubular horn which are se- 


Horny frog, with the posterior portion of 
the perioplic horn-band and the periople 
which covers the quarters removed from 
the hoof as one piece by maceration: a, 
trough-shaped depression of upper surface, 
which is divided posteriorly into the two 
upper channels of the frog by b, the frog- 
stay; c, part of the frog that is joined to 
the bar and forms the lateral wall of the 
depression (channels) on upper surface of 
frog; d, lateral surface of horny frog which, 
in its upper part, adheres to the bar, but 
below, at a’, lies free; e, point or summit of 
the frog; f, perioplic horn-band: /’, peri- 
ople of the quarters. 


ereted by.the villi that are always found at the lower ends of 
the fleshy leaves. The white line may be said to exist wherever 
the horn-leaves can be discerned upon the plantar surface of 
the hoof. It not only passes around the circumference of the 
sole from heel to heel, but may be followed forward from the 
buttresses along the bars almost to the summit of the frog. 
The horn of the white line is soft, unpigmented (white), and 


HORSESHOEING. 57 


possesses so very little resistance (strength) that it is often 
found crumbling or even absent in places. The visible part 
of the white line is usually of a grayish-black color, owing to 
the working in from below 
of dirt and hquid manure, 
and to staining by rust from 
the nails. The white line is 
very important, since it 
serves as the point from 
which we judge of the 
thickness of the wall, and 
because the horseshoe nail A borny frog cut vertically and lengthwise 


g through its middle: a, upper surface; 6, frog- 
should penetrate it. stay; c, median lacuna of frog, which at c’, is 


The Frog (Figs. Bae h, overlaid with superposed layers of horn. 
35, k, l, 38 and 39), secreted by the velvety tissue covering 
the plantar cushion and presenting almost the same form 
as the latter, lies as a wedge between the bars and between 


Fia. 39. 


Longitudinal section of the wall magnified. The dark stripes parallel and close together 
are horn-tubes; the lighter surface between the tubes represents the intertubular horn. 
Notice that the horn-tubes are of various diameters. The space between a and 6b represents 
the small tubes of the outer, darker horn of the principal (middle) layer of the wall; the space 
between b and c the lighter, inner horn of the wall; c, d, the horn separating the wall proper 
from the horny leaves; d, e, the horny leaves (keraphyllous tissue), on which can be seen fine, 
parallel, vertical stripes; in the horn-leaf at f, f’, are seen fissures passing obliquely upward 
and outward towards the wall. 


the edges of the sole just in front of the bars, with both of 
which structures it is intimately united. Its horn is quite 
soft and very elastic. The median lacuna or cleft of the 


58 HORSESHOEING. 


frog (Fig. 31, 1) divides it into two branches (Fig. 31, 7), 
which pass backward and outward into the horny bulbs (Fig. 
31, k). In front of the median lacuna the two branches 
unite to form the body of the frog 
(Fig. 31, h), which ends in a point, 
designated the point, apex, or summit 
of the frog. On the upper surface of 
the frog, directly over the median cleft 
of the lower surface, there is a small 
projection called the frog-stay (Figs. 35, 
1, 38 and 39, b), which fits into the 
median cleft of the plantar cushion. 
Besides, the upper surface of the frog 


Cross-section of the wall, mag- SHOWS Many minute openings, similar 
nified 3/4) nornstubes; Uy inter ton but) smaller than those of thersele 
tubular horn. : 

and coronary groove, for the reception 
of villi. In unshod hoofs the frog, sole, bars, and bearing-edge 
of the wall are on a level; that is, the plantar surface of such 
hoofs is perfectly flat. 


The minute structure of the horn ean searcely be considered in de- 
tail in an elementary treatise such as this is. However, a few of tie 
most important facts are as follows: 

If we carefully examine a transverse section of the horn of the 
wall (Fig. 41), sole, or frog, we will see with the naked eye, though 
much better with a magnifying glass, many minute points quite close 
to one another, and greatly resembling the small openings which we 
have seen in the coronary groove of the wall and on the upper surface 
of the horny sole and frog. If, now, we examine a longitudinal see- 
tion of the wall (Fig. 40) or sole, we will see a number of fine, dark 
stripes which are straight, parallel, quite close to one another, of dif- 
ferent widths, and which are separated by bands of lighter horn also 
of different widths. A thin section or slice of the wall taken at right 
angles to the direction of these dark lines (Fig. 41) shows us that the 
minute points that are visible to the naked eye, when held up to the 
light or moderately magnified, prove to be small openings (Fig. 41, a). 
Since these openings, shown in Fig. 41, represent the dark lines shown 
in Fig. 40, because an opening is found wherever there is a dark line, 
we must regard all dark lines seen in longitudinal sections of wall, 


HORSESHOEING. 59 


sole, and frog as hollow cylinders or tubes, though they are not always 
hollow, but are often filled with loosely adjusted, crumbling, broken- 
down horn-cells. The dark edges of the openings (a) consist of thick 
layers of horn-cells (tube-walls). The entire structure is called a 
horn-tube, and the lighter-colored masses of horn (Fig. 41, b) between 
the tubes are known as intertubular horn. 


With the exception of the horny leaves of the wall and 
bars, all the horn of the hoof is composed of horn-tubes and 
intertubular horn. 

The horn-tubes of the wall, sole, and frog always run down- 
ward and forward parallel to the direction of the wall at the 
toe,—that is, in a direction parallel with the inclination of the 
hoof as a whole. Although the wall, sole, and frog differ from 
one another considerably with respect to the size and number 
of the horn-tubes, the quality of the intertubular horn, and the 
thickness and strength of the horn-cells, these differences are 
only of subordinate interest or importance to the horseshoer; 
but he who desires to learn more of this matter is referred to 
the work of Leisering & Hartmann, “ Der Fuss des Pferdes in 
Riicksicht auf Bau, Verrichtungen und Hufbeschlag,” eighth 
edition, Dresden, 1893. This book also treats of the variations 
in the quality of hoofs, which is very important for the prac- 
tical horseshoer to know. It, furthermore, considers the solidity 
and strength of the horn of the different parts of the hoof. 

With respect to solidity, two kinds of horn are distinguished, 
—namely, hard and soft horn. The periople, the white line, 
and the frog are soft horn structures; the middle layer of the 
wall and the sole are hard or solid horn. The wall, however, 
is somewhat harder and more tenacious than the sole, for the 
latter passes off in more or less large flakes (exfoliates) or 
erumbles away on its lower surface, at least in shod feet, while 
no such spontaneous shortening occurs in the wall. 

Soft horn differs from hard horn in that its horn-cells never 
become hard and horn-like. It is very elastic, absorbs water 
quickly, and as readily dries out and becomes very hard and 


60 HORSESHOEING. 


Iii, 4, 


Q 
© 


YY ee 


5 “tia 


r 


Vertical section through middle of a forefoot, the skin and pododerm being in red. (In 
the figure the direction of both long and short pasterns, B and D, is too nearly vertical—too 
steep). A, metacarpal bone (cannon); B, os suffraginis (long pastern); C, inner sesamoid 
bone (to render it visible a portion of the intersesamoid ligament was removed) ; D, os coro- 
nz (short pastern) ; EZ, os pedis (foot-bone) ; F, navicular bone; a, extensor tendon; b, suspen- 
sory ligament of the fetlock; b’, superficial inferior sesamoid ligament; c, perforatus tendon 
or flexor of the os corone; c’, ring passing forward from this tendon and encircling the per- 
forans tendon; d, perforans tendon; e, capsular ligament of fetlock-joint; f, capsular ligament 
of coronary joint; g, g’, capsular ligament of pedal joint; hk, synovial sheath of the perfo- 
rans tendon; 7, plantar cushion and fleshy frog; 7’, bulbs or glomes of plantar cushion; 7” in- 
dicates the lowest point reached by the plantar cushion, which in the figure is hidden below 
by the frog-stay of the horny frog; k, coronary band (red); /, podophyllous tissue (red) ; m, 
velvety tissue of the sole (red); n, velvety tissue of fleshy frog (red); 0, wall; p, sole; q, frog; 
q’’, the inner half of the frog-stay which reposes in the median lacuna of the fleshy frog; s, 
hair-skin (red). 


HORSESHOEING. 61 


brittle and easily fissured and chapped, With respect to quality, 
we distinguish good and bad horn; the former is fine and 
tenacious (tough), the latter coarse and either soft and crumb- 
ling or hard and brittle. If not dried out, all horn is elastic, 


Fie. 43. 


Right forefoot viewed from the side: A, lower end of the cannon; B, fetlock-joint; C, 
long pastern; D, coronet; EZ, hoof; F, heel; F’, inner heel; G, foot-lock covering the ergot. 


though soft horn is more elastic than hard. All horn is a poor 
conductor of heat. 

The relative positions of the various parts of the foot are 
shown in Fig. 42. 

Fig. 43 represents the exterior of a well-formed foot. 


CEVA Pa ERO, 


THE FOOT IN ITS RELATION TO THE ENTIRE LIMB. 


As there are well-formed and badly formed bodies, so there 
are well-formed and badly formed limbs and hoofs. The form 
ot the hoof depends upon the position of the limb. A straight 


Fic. 44. 


Normal (regular) position of 
fore-limbs. 


different. Therefore, 


limb of normal direction possesses, as a 
rule, a regular hoof, while an oblique 
or crooked limb is accompanied by an 
irregular or oblique hoof. Hence, it is 
necessary, before discussing the vari- 
ous forms of the hoof, to consider briefly 
the various positions that may be 
assumed by the limbs. In this diseus- 
sion we shall deal with the living horse. 


A. Standing Positions of the Limbs. 


The position of a limb depends 
upon the varying lengths of its com- 
ponent bones and the angles at which 
they meet one another. To judge the 
standing position of a fore-limb one 
must stand in front of the horse; to 
judge a hind limb, stand behind the 
horse; the backward or forward devia- 
tions of both front and hind limbs 
are judged by standing at the side. But 
a horse does not always move as his 
standing position would lead one to 
suspect; standing and moving are 
in order to arrive at a proper judgment, 


one must observe the limbs both at rest and in motion. 
(a) The position of a limb viewed from in front is normal 


62 


HORSESHOEING. 63 


or straight (Fig. 44) when it stands vertical or perpendicular. 
A plumb-line dropped from the point of the shoulder (middle of 
the scapulo-humeral articulation) should pass down the middle 
line of the limb, dividing it into inner and outer halves of 
equal width, and meeting the ground at the middle of the toe. 

In the base-wide standing position (Fig. 45) the plumb-line 
falls to the inner side of the limb; the limb extends obliquely 
downward and outward. To this class belong also the knee- 


iG 45: 
My, 1, (" 


ime, 47/, 


|, 


Base-wide Toe-wide Toe-narrow (‘‘pigeon 

toed") 
narrow (knock-kneed) position, in which the knees are too close 
together, while the feet stand wide apart, and the toe-wide 
position (splay-footed, Fig. 46) in which the toes point ob- 
liquely forward and outward. In base-wide positions either 
the entire limb extends downward and outward or the foot alone 
is turned outward. 

The base narrow position is frequently observed in horses 
with very wide breasts. The limbs run downward and inward, 
a plumb-line dropped from the point of the shoulder falling to 
the outer side of the leg and foot. A special form of the base- 


64 HORSESHOEING. 


narrow position is the toe-narrow or pigeon-toed position (Fig. 
47). In some instances the legs are straight and perpendicular 
down to the fetlock, while from there to the ground the phal- 
anges incline obliquely inward. Another form is the knee-wide 
or bandy-legged position, in which the knees are placed too far 


Fie. 48. Fic. 49. 


Normal (regular) fore-limb in profile. Normal (regular hind limb in profile. 


apart, while the cannons and phalanges incline downward and 
inward. 

The position of a fore-limb viewed in profile is regular 
or normal (Fig. 48) when a perpendicular line dropped from 
the tuberosity of the acromian spine (point of union of the 
upper and middle thirds of the scapula or shoulder blade) 


HORSESHOEING. 65 


divides the leg from the elbow to the fetlock into anterior and 
posterior halves of equal width, and touches the ground imme- 
diately back of the bulbs of the heel. A perpendicular hne 


Ime 0) ine, Ail, lanl, GP 


Camped in front. Calf-kneed. Acute-angled foot (low-jointed). 


dropped from the point of union of the middle and lower thirds 
of the scapula (shoulder blade) will cut the humerus into 
halves, and meet the ground between the toe and the heel.* 


* In station of rest, the normal position of a fore-leg, as seen from 
the side, is somewhat different. The station of rest is the position that 
is maintained with the least possible muscular effort. With gradual 
muscular relaxation the head and neck sink to a point somewhat below 
the line of the back, the top of the shoulder blade sinks a little, and 
the shoulder and elbow joints move forward till the centre of the 
elbow joint is direetly above the ground-surface of the hoof. There- 
fore, when a horse at rest stands firmly on all four feet, the fore-leg 
viewed from the side, has a normal (regular) direction, when a per- 
pendicular line dropped from the tuberosity of the acromian spine 
passes through the middle of the elbow joint and meets the ground 
near the middle of the hoof, . 

5 


66 HORSESHOEING. 


The foot-avis (line of direction of the three phalanges) and 
the wall at the toe form an angle of from forty-five to fifty 
degrees with the horizontal ground-surface. 

From this normal or regular standing position, there are 
deviations forward as well as backward. 

Forward Deviations.—* Standing in front” or “ camped 
in front” (Fig. 50) is that position in which the entire leg 
from the body to the ground is placed too far forward. Sheep- 


lane, G3 i Hie. 54; 


Standing under. Knee-spring. 


kneed (Fig. 51) is that position in which the forward deviation 
is from the knee downward, the knee being placed too far under 
the body. “ Weak-jointed,” “ low-jointed,” or “ acute-angled ” 
(Fig. 52) is that position in which the limbs are perpendicular 
and straight down as far as the fetlock-joint, but the feet are 
placed too far in front. 

Backward Deviations.—Standing under in front (Fig. 53) 
is that deviation in which the entire leg from the elbow down 
is placed back of the perpendicular line and, therefore, too far 


HORSESHOEING. 67 


under the body. When this deviation affects only the cannon 
bone, the horse stands bent forward at the knees,—a’ condition 
known as “ goat-kneed,”’ “ buck-kneed,” “ over in the knees,’ 
or, more commonly, “ knee-sprung” (Fig. 54). When the 
backward deviation is only from the fet- 

Fic. 55. lock down, the animal is said to stand up- 

=) right or “straight in the fetlock” (Fig. 53). 

(b) A hind leg viewed from behind 

is said to be regular or straight (Fig. 55) 
(| when a perpendicular line dropped from 


MIN Fic. 56. Fic. 57. 


Normal (regular) position Base-wide (cow hocked). Base-narrow. 
viewed from behind. 


the tuberosity of the ischium (see Fig. 1, 9”) divides the entire 
limb into inner and outer halves of equal width and touches 
the ground opposite the median lacuna of the frog. Seen from 
the side, this line just touches the point of the hock and, passing 
down at some distance from the flexor tendons, meets the ground 


68 HORSESHOEING. 


considerably back of the heels. A perpendicular line dropped 
from the hip-joint should pass through the foot, meeting the 
ground half-way between the point of the toe and the heel 
(Fig. 49). There are base-wide, base-narrow, toe-wide, and 
toe-narrow deviations in the hind limbs as in the fore-limbs. 

The hind limbs are base-wide when they, either as a whole 
or in part, deviate outward from the normal. The “ cow- 
hocked”’ position (Fig. 56) is an example of the base-wide; in 
this case the points of the hocks are too 
close and turn towards each other, while 
the feet are widely separated and the 
toes turned outward. Base-narrow 1s 
that position of the hind legs in which 
either the entire leg deviates to the inner 
side of the perpendicular (Fig. 57), or 
the leg is about perpendicular down as 
far as the hock, but below this joint runs 
downward and inward (Fig. 58). In this 
latter case the hocks may be too far apart, 
the leg is bent outward at the hock and 
the animal is termed “ bandy-leqged,” 
“ bow-legged.” 

Viewing a hind limb from the side, 
it may be observed to deviate either 


cS x“ 


SO 


) 
/ 
4 


\ Y 1 

Piali/ 

2 Ni 
| 


forward or backward from the normal. 
Beever und Among forward deviations is the so- 
: ealled “ sabre-leg ” or “ sickle-hock” (Fig. 
59), in which the hock-joint is too much flexed, the foot placed 
too far forward under the body, and the fetlock too slanting. 
In the position known as “camped behind” (Fig. 60) the 
leg is behind the body and the pastern is too upright, too nearly 
vertical. 
It is possible for each limb of the same horse to assume a 
different direction. It more often happens that if the fore- 
limbs are base-wide the hind limbs are base-narrow, or vice 


HORSESHOEING. 69 


versa. While there are some other deviations that differ 
somewhat from those already described, they are of less im- 
portance to the horseshoer. 


B. Forms of Feet, Viewed from in Front, from Behind, and in 
Profile. 


In all the various positions of the limbs we find the feet in 
one of the following three forms, or very closely approaching one 
of them. By means of a proper knowledge of these three forms, 


Fic. 60. 


Sabre-legged or sickle-hocked. Camped behind. 


the judging of the form, flight of the foot in travelling, and 
preparation of the hoof for the shoe, as well as the choice of 
the length of the shoe, are regulated, facilitated, and simplified, 

Whether a horse’s feet be observed from in front or from 
behind, their form corresponds to, or at least resembles, either 
that of the regular position (Figs. 61 and 62), the base-wide 
or toe-wide position (Figs. 63 and 64), or the base-narrow or 
toe-narrow position (Figs. 65 and 66). 


70 HORSESHOEING. 


By the direction of the foot-axis—that is, an imaginary 
line passing through the long axis of the three phalangeal bones 
(Figs. 61, 65, 67, 68 and 69)—we determine whether or not 
the hoof and pastern stand in proper mutual relation. 


Fia. 61. Fic. 62. 


A pair of front feet of regular position viewed from in front and from behind. 


In the regular standing position (Figs. 61 and 62) the 
foot-axis runs straight downward and forward, in the base- 


Hie. 63: Fic. 64. 


A pair of feet of the base-wide (toe-wide) position seen from in front and from behind. 


wide position (Figs. 63 and 64) it runs obliquely downward 
and outward, and in the base-narrow position (Figs. 65 and 
66) it runs obliquely downward and inward. 

Viewing the foot from the side, we distinguish the regular 


HORSESHOEING. 71 


(normal) position (Fig. 68), and designate all forward 
deviations as acute-angled (long toe and low heel, Fig. 67), and 


Fia. 65. Fic. 66. 


A pair of feet of the base-narrow (toe-narrow) position seen from in front and from behind. 


all deviations backward from the regular position as upright 
(short toe and high heel, Fig. 69), steep-toed, or stumpy. 
When the body-weight is uniformly distributed over all four 


Fic. 67. Fig. 68. Fic. 69. 


/ 


An acute-angled hoof. A normal-angled hoof. An upHehe erepy) 
: oof. 


limbs, the foot-axis should be straight (Figs. 67 and 69), not 
“broken” (bent); the long pastern, wall at the toe, and foot- 
axis should have the same slant. 


72 HORSESHOEING. 


A peculiar form of foot is the so-called bear-foot (Fig. 70), 
in which the foot-axis, viewed from the side, is broken strongly 
forward at the coronet. The wall at the toe stands much 
steeper than the long pastern and is more or less convex; in 
other words, a low-jointed, sloping pastern is attached to an 
upright hoof. Such a foot is sometimes improperly called a 
“ club-foot.” 


C. Lines of Flight of Hoofs in Motion. 


If we observe horses moving unrestrained over level ground, 
we will notice differences in the carriage of the feet. Viewed 
from in front, or from behind, in the regular standing posi- 
tion of the limbs the hoofs are carried forward in a straight 
direction,—that is, in a line parallel with the median line of 
the body (Fig. 71). The toes likewise point straight forward ; 
the hoofs alight properly (flat) on the ground. If the horse 

stands base-wide, the hoof is carried in a 

Fia. 70. d : ree : : : 
circle; from its position, which is behind 
and well out from the median line, the 
hoof passes first forward and inward until 
it is close to the supporting leg, and then 
outward to the ground (Fig. 72), where 
the shock is received principally upon the 
outer toe. The toes point either directly 
forward, as in the regular standing posi- 


tion (Fig. 72), or forward and outward as 
in the toe-wide position (Fig. 73). In the 
toe-wide position the hoof in its flight may cross the median line. 

Exactly the reverse is true of the horse that stands base- 
narrow; in this ease the hoof is moved in a circle whose con- 
vexity 1s outward,—that is, the hoof from its position behind, 
and close to the median line, is carried forward and outward 
and then inward to the ground (Figs. 74 and 75). 

Viewed from the side, the line of flight of a hoof is deter- 
mined largely by the obliquity (slant) of the foot-axis. 


The ‘‘bear-foot.”’ 


HORSESHOEING. 73 


1. With a straight foot axis of normal slant (45°-50°, 
Fig. 76, A), the hoof follows the are of a circle and reaches its 
highest point when directly above the supporting hoof, 7.e., when 
half-way in the stride. 

2. With a straight, but acute-angled foot-axis (less than 
45°, Fig. 76, B), the hoof rises rapidly, reaches its highest 


iG Wi. WG, 74 J2Gs Wek Mie, (AL EGios 
' 
1 ’ 
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point before it has completed the first half of the stride, i.e., be- 
fore it has passed the supporting hoof, and descending gradually 
in a long curve alights easily on the ground. 

3. With a straight, but upright foot-axis (55° or more, 
Fig. 76, C), the hoof rises slowly, reaches its highest point in 
front of the supporting hoof, from which point it descends 
rapidly. The gait is “ choppy,” and in the saddle horse un- 


7 See ew 


rere = 


74 HORSESHOEING. 


pleasant for the rider. The length and the height of the stride 
are greatest in acute-angled feet ; least in upright feet. Further- 
more, length and height of stride are in a measure dependent 
on breeding, training, condition of the legs (whether stiffened 
by use or disease), length of the hoof and the weight of the shoe. 


-_-7T-r- = 


\ 


\ 
SS = 


‘ 
‘ 


\ 


\ 
mi 


Flight of the hoof as seen from the side: A, flight of a regular hoof; B, flight of an acute- 
angled hoof; C, flight of an upright hoof. 

Many deviations in the line of flight of hoofs and in the 
manner in which they are set to the ground occur; for example, 
horses heavily burdened or pulling heavy loads, and, therefore, 
not having free use of their limbs, project their limbs irregu- 


HORSESHOEING. . 75 


larly and meet the ground first with the toe; however, careful 
observation will detect the presence of one or the other of these 
lines of flight of the foot. Irregular carriage of the feet renders 
a horse unsuitable for general purposes only when it is very 
pronounced, in which ease certain troublesome conditions, such 
as interfering and disease of joints, are of frequent occurrence. 


D. The Influence of Weight in the Shoe or Otherwise Attached 
to the Hoof, in Altering the Flight of the Hoof. 


There is nothing mysterious in the effect of weight upon 
the flight of the feet. On the contrary, the lines of flight are 
determined (as shown in pages 72-74, Figs. 71-76), first, by 
the relation of the transverse axes of the hinge-joints of the 
leg and foot to the line of progression (median line); second, 
by the length and obliquity of the hoof and pastern; third, by 
the height and length of stride which is natural to each in- 
dividual. 

Weight induces higher action and a longer stride. Inertia 
increases with the weight. A heavy shoe cannot be snatched 
from the ground as quickly as a light one, but when moving 
forward at a given velocity its greater momentum (momentum—= 
mass (wt) X velocity : m= wt X v) carries the foot farther 
forward than does the lighter shoe. Thus, the heavier shoe, 
or weight attached to the hoof, lengthens the stride at both ends. 
The farther from the centre of rotation of the scapula the 
weight is placed, 7.e., the nearer to the toe it is placed, the 
greater the muscular effort required to start it and to stop it. 

Height of action, though largely the result of breeding, 
temperament, and the exhilaration that accompanies perfect 
health and entire absence of muscular fatigue, is to a certain 
extent influenced by the inclination of the pastern and toe to 
the cannon. The acute-angled foot, in the folding of the leg 
during the first half of the stride, moves through a longer are 
of a circle whose centre is the fetlock joint than does the normal 
or the upright foot; rises more rapidly and to a higher point. 


76 HORSESHOEING. 


(See Fig. 76, B.) When the momentum of a foot moving 
rapidly and abruptly upward is increased by weight the result 
is extreme and even exaggerated flexion of all joints of the leg, 
and by allowing the hoof to grow long the flexion is still further 
increased. In the show ring, harness horses with fair natural 
action may be made to “‘ climb” by shoes weighing from thirty 
to sixty ounces upon hoofs an inch or more longer than normal. 
The leverage of a heavy shoe on a Jong hoof is excessive, fatigu- 
ing and most injurious to ligament, tendon and muscle. The 


action, while high, is /abored, pounding and altogether inelegant. 


lan, tie 


A 40 oz. right front shoe (hoof-sur- The same seen from the ground surface in pro- 


face) to increase knee-action in a high file: a, bevel from inner border of the web to 
acting harness horse. For show-pur- outer border: 6, ends of the branches of full 
poses only. thickness from outer to inner border. 


In the training of trotters weight is often used to increase 
the length of the stride, or to cause a higher folding of a front 
foot, in order to prevent “scalping” or “ speedy-cut.” As 
soon as the new gait becomes a fixed habit the weight should be 
gradually lessened. Weight is carried with less fatigue at a 
trot than at a pace, or at a gallop. It therefore steadies a 
trotter that is inclined to pace, or ‘‘ break” into a run. The in- 
creased momentum of the weighted hoof makes for rhythm of 
movement, and increases the difficulty of skipping, dwelling, or 


mixing gaits. 


HORSESHOEING. 77 


In the base-wide (toe-wide) and base-narrow (toe-narrow ) 
standing positions, the flight of the hoofs, as seen from in front 
or behind, is not straight forward, 7.e., parallel to the line of 
progression of the body, but in ares of circles. (See Figs. 72-75, 
p- 78.) In these cases, increasing the weight of the hoofs, by 
increasing the momentum, must of necessity increase the 
tendency of the hoofs to move off at-a tangent to the curves 
which they deseribe. In other words, weight increases the 
centrifugal force of a body moving in a curve. The outward 
swing of the hoofs of a base-wide horse (paddling), and the 
inward swing of a base-narrow horse (interfering), are made 
more pronounced by adding weight to any part of the hoof. 
The centrifugal force is greatest in base-wide feet when the 
weight is on the lateral, or outer side of the hoof; in base- 
narrow feet when it is on the median or inner side. 

A side weight, or side weight shoe is often of service in a 
crossfiring pacer. This animal usually stands base-narrow (toe- 
narrow) behind, and in motion his hind hoofs describe a curve 
at first forward and outward and then inward till contact is 
made with the diagonal hoof or leg. The added weight (placed 
on the outer side) by increasing the centrifugal force carries the 
hoof just enough farther from the centre around which the hoof 
swings to prevent contact. (See cross-firing, p. 138.) 

Finally, it must not be forgotten that weight is always 
weight; that it cuts speed and devours endurance. 


E. Forms of Hoofs. 
A front hoof of the regular standing position (Fig. 79). 


The inner and outer walls differ but little in direction and 
thickness. The outer wall is a little thicker and somewhat 
more slanting than the inner (see Figs. 61 and 62), and its 
outer circumference describes a larger are of a cirele,—that 
is, is more curved, as can be seen both at its plantar border and 
at the coronet. The length of the quarter in relation to the 
length or height of the side wall and toe is about as 1: 2:3. 


78 HORSESHOEING. 


The toe forms an angle with the ground of forty-five to fifty 
degrees (see Fig. 68). The direction of the wall at the toe, 
viewed from the side, should be parallel with the direction of 
the long pastern. 

A hoof of the base-wide position (Fig. 80) is always awry, 
because the outer wall is 
naturally somewhat longer 
and decidedly more slant- 
ing than the inner(see Figs. 
63 and 64). The plantar 
border of the outer wall 
describes a large are, whose 
sharpest curvature is where 
the side wall passes into 
the quarter. The plantar 
border of the inner wall is 
straighter (less curved) ; 
the outer half of the ground 
surface (sole) of the hoof 
is, therefore, wider than the 
inner. So long as the hoof 


NWA 5 


is healthy, both branches of 
Right fore-hoof of the regular position: a, the from are equally devel- 

side-wall; b, quarter; c, beginning of the bar; d, ‘S t 

buttress; e, middle of the bar; f, body of the sole; oped. The wryness of the 


J’, branches of sole; g, white line; g’, apparent . 
end of the bar; h, body of the frog; i, branch of hoof depends upon the di- 


the frog; k, bulbs (glomes) of the heel; 7, middle rection of the limb; there- 


cleft of frog; m, lateral cleft of frog. 

fore, a base-wide hoof 
should be regarded as a normally wry hoof, to distinguish it 
from hoofs which are wry from disease. 

A hoof of the toe-wide position (Fig. 81) is distinguished 
from the preceding by the bending or curvature of the plantar 
border of the outer toe and inner quarter being often decidedly 
less pronounced than on the inner toe and outer quarter; there- 
fore, two short curves and two long curves lie opposite each 
other; in other words, the inner toe and outer quarter, lying 


HORSESHOEING. 79 


opposite each other, are sharply curved, while the outer toe 
and inner quarter, lying opposite each other, are much less 
sharply bent or curved. The toes are turned out. The feet are 
not set down flat upon the ground, but meet it with the outer toe. 

A hoof of the base-narrow position is normally wry, but 
never so pronounced as a hoof of the base-wide position. The 
inner wall is but little more oblique than the outer, the differ- 
ence being most noticeable at the quarters (Figs. 65 and 66). 
The curve of the plantar border of the wall is similar to that 
of a regular hoof, except that the inner side wall and quarter 


Fie. 81. 


Right fore-hoof of the base-wide position. Right fore-hoof of the toe-wide position. 


are a little more sharply curved in a base-narrow hoof. Occa- 
sionally the outer quarter is somewhat drawn in under the foot. 

This form of hoof is most distinctly marked in animals 
that stand toe-narrow or are bandy-legged. 

As to the forms of the hind hoofs, what has been said cou- 
cerning the influence of position of the limbs upon the shape 
of the front feet will apply equally well to them. The hind 
hoof (Fig. 82) is not round at the toe, but somewhat pointed 
or oval. It greatest width is between the middle and posterior 
thirds of the sole. It usually has a strongly concaved sole and 


80 HORSESHOEING. 


a somewhat steeper toe than the fore-hoof; viewed from the 
side, the angle of the toe with the ground in the regular stand- 
ing position is from fifty to fifty-five degrees. 

Finally, we also distinguish wide and narrow hoofs; they 
are not dependent upon the position of the limbs, but upon the 
race and breeding of the animal. 

The wide hoof (Fig. 83) is almost round upon its plantar 

surface. lis wall runs 


Fig. 82. 


quite oblique to the ground. 
The sole is but moderately 
econeave, and the frog is 
strong and well developed. 
The narrow hoof (Fig. 84) 
is rather elliptical, with 
steep side walls, strongly 
eoneaved sole, and small, 
undeveloped frog. The horn 
of the narrow hoof is fine 
and tough; of the wide hoof, 
usually coarse. The wide 


hoof may readily become 
flat. Narrow hoofs are either 


; the result of breeding or 
Right hind hoof of the regular position: a, premature shoeing. 


side-wall; 6, beginning of the quarter; c, begin- : d 
ning of the bar; d, buttress; e, middle of bar; f, In enumerating the pre- 


body of the sole; f’, branch of sole; g, white line J+, 7, - : 
of the toe; g’, white line of the bar; h, body of ce ding for ms of the hoof we 


te FE dat atie oes ate cies have by mo means referred 

to all the forms in which 
the hoof may be found; on the contrary, hoofs vary in shape and 
quality to such an extent that among a hundred horses no two 
hoofs can be found which are exactly alike. In fact, the same 
variety exists as in the faces of people, and we know that we can 
recall in succession even many more faces without finding two 
that are exactly alike. This explains the manifold differences 


in horseshoes with respect to size, form and other qualities. 


HORSESHOEING. 81 


Suppose now a hoof is before us; it is first necessary to know 
whether or not it is healthy. Unfortunately, a perfectly healthy 
hoof is not so easy to find as one may think. We recognize a 
sound hoof by the following marks: Seen from in front or 
from the side, the course of the wall from the coronet to the 
ground, in the direction of the horn-tubes, is straight,—that is, 
bent neither in nor out. A straight edge, placed upon the wall 
in the direction of the horn-tubes, touches at every point. The 
wall must show neither longitudinal nor transverse cracks or 


Pie. 83) Fic. 84. 


Wide fore-hoof. Narrow fore-hoof, 


fissures. If there be rings, their position and course are im- 
portant. Rings which pass around the entire circumference 
of the wall parallel to the coronet indicate nothing more than 
disturbances of nutrition of the hoof; but the hoof cannot pass 
for sound when the rings have any other position and direction 
than the one mentioned, or if the rings upon any part of the 
wall are more marked than elsewhere, even though they may 
be parallel to the coronary band. Marked ring-building upon 
the hoofs of horses which have regular feeding, grooming, and 
work indicates a weak hoof. Viewed from the ground-surface 
6 


82 HORSESHOEING. 


and from behind, the bulbs of the heels should be well rounded, 
strongly developed, and not displaced. The concave sole should 
show no separation along the white line. The frog should be 
strong, well developed, and have symmetrical branches and a 
broad, shallow, dry median lacuna. The lateral lacune of the 
frog should be clean and not too narrow. The bars should pass 
in a straight direction forward and inward towards the point 
of the frog. Any bending outward of the bars towards the 
branches of the sole indicates the beginning of a narrowing 
of the space occupied by the frog,—that is, contraction of the 
heels. The horn of the branches of the sole in the buttresses 
and in their proximity should show no red staining. The 
lateral cartilages should be elastic. No part of the foot should 
be weakened at the cost of other parts. By firm union of all 
strong parts the strength and vigor of the hoof is in no sense 
disturbed. If one desires to ascertain the exact form and state 
of health of the hoof, tt must never be inspected and judged 
alone, but in connection with the entire limb. 


F. Growth of the Hoof and Wear of the Hoof and Shoe. 


All parts of the horn of the hoof grow downward and for- 
ward, the material for this growth being furnished by the re- 
markably large quantity of blood which flows to the pododerm. 
The growth of the hoof is regulated by the nerves. 

As a rule, the hoof grows uniformly,—that is, one section 
of the wall grows just as rapidly as another. A visible indication 
of growth is the increase in height and width of the hoof from 
eolthood to maturity. 

The rapidity of growth of the wall varies, amounting in a 
month to from one-sixth to one-half of an inch. The average 
monthly growth in both shod and unshod horses of both sexes 
is, according to my own experiments, one-third of an inch. 
Hind hoofs grow faster than front hoofs, and unshod faster 
than shod. The hoofs of stallions grow more slowly than 
those of mares and geldings. 


HORSESHOEING. 83 


Abundant exercise, proper grooming (flexibility and moist- 
ness of the horn), regular dressing of the wall, and running 
barefoot from time to time favor growth; while little or no 
~ exercise, dryness, and excessive length of the hoof hinder 
growth. 

The time required for the horn to grow from the coronet to 
the ground is, therefore, equally variable, and is, moreover, 
dependent upon the height (length of toe) of the hoof. At the 
toe the horn grows down in from eleven to thirteen months, 
at the mamme or sides in from six to eight months, and at the 
quarters in from three to five months. The time required for 
the renewal of the entire hoof we term the period of hoof 
renewal. If, for example, we know exactly the rapidity of 
horn growth in a given case, we can estimate without difficulty 
the length of the “ period of hoof renewal,’ as well for the 
entire hoof as for each individual section of the wall. The 
duration of many diseases of the hoof (cracks, clefts, partial 
bendings of the wall, contractions, etc.) can be foretold with 
relative certainty only by knowing the period of hoof renewal. 

Irregular growth sometimes takes place. The chief cause 
of this is usually an improper distribution of the body-weight 
over the hoof,—that is, an unbalanced foot. Wry hoofs of 
faulty positions of the limbs are often exposed to this evil; a 
faulty preparation of the hoof (dressing) for the shoe, as well 
as neglect of the colt’s hoofs, is in the majority of cases directly 
responsible for this condition. 

If in the shortening of the wall a part is from ignorance 
left too long, or one-half of the -hoof shortened too much in 
relation to the other half, the foot will be unbalanced. The 
horse will then touch the ground first with the section of wall 
which has been left too high, and will continue to do so until 
this long section has been reduced to its proper level (length) 
by the increased wear which will take place at this point. In 
unshod hoofs this levelling process takes place rapidly; such, 
however, is not the case in shod hoofs, for here the shoe prevents 


84 HORSESHOEING. 


rapid wear, and, indeed this levelling process is often rendered 
impossible through the welding of high steel calks to the shoe. 
If this fault in trimming be repeated at the next and subse- 
quent shoeings, and if the faulty relation of the ground surface 
of the hoof to the direction of the foot-axis remain during 
several months, the portion of wall 
left too high will grow more rapidly, 
the walls will lose their natural 
straight direction and become bent. 
If, for example, the outer wall has 


Fig. 85. 


been left too long during a consider- 
able period of time, a crooked hoof 
results (Fig. 85) in which the rings 
are placed closer together upon the 
low (coneave) side than upon the 
high (convex) side. If for a long 
time the toe is excessively long, it 
will become bent; or if this fault 
affects excessively high quarters they 
will contract either just under the coronary band or will curl 
forward and inward at their lower borders. These examples are 
sufficient to show both the importance of the manner in which a 
horse places his foot to the ground and its influence upon the 
loading, growth, and form of the hoof. 


Crooked (right) fore-hoof. 


Wear of the Shoe and of the Hoof upon the Shoe. 


The wear of the shoe is caused much less by the weight of 
the animal’s body than by the rubbing which takes place be- 
tween the shoe and the earth whenever the foot is placed to the 
ground and lifted. 

The wear of the shoe which oceurs when the foot is placed 
on the ground is termed “ grounding wear,” and that which 
occurs while the foot is being lifted from the ground is termed 
“ swinging-off wear.” When a horse travels normally, both 
kinds of wear are nearly alike, but are very distinct when the 


HORSESHOEING. 85 


paces are abnormal, especially when there is faulty direction of 
the limbs. While in the majority of horses whose limbs have 
been stiffened by age and overwork both kinds of wear are most 
marked at the toe of the shoe, we see relatively fewer cases of 
“ orounding wear”’ at the ends of the branches (as in lamini- 
tis) ; on the contrary, we always notice “swinging-off wear” at 
the toe of the shoe. It is worthy of notice that length of stride 
has much to do with the wear. We observe that with shorten- 
ing of the stride both kinds of wear occur at the toe of the 
shoe, and this is rapidly worn away, as is the case with horses 


Fig. 86. 


Jes, (y/- 


Fic. 88. 


A normal-angled foot 
with straight foot axis. 
The shoe shows uniform 
wear. 


An upright foot with 
foct axis broken forward 
by reason of too high quar- 
ters. The shoe shows 
‘“‘crounding’’ wear at ends 
of branches, and ‘‘swing- 
ing off’’ wear at toe. 


A hoof with foot axis 
broken backward by rea- 
son of surplus horn at the 
toe. The shoe shows ex- 
cessive ‘‘grounding’’ and 
“swinging off’? wear at 
the toe. 


which are fretful and prance under the rider, draw heavy loads, 
or from any other cause, as disease or infirmity, are obliged to 
shorten their steps. With increase of length of stride the wear 
of the shoe becomes more uniform. : 

The position and form of the shoe have a marked influence 
upon its wear;at the place where the shoe is too far under 
the hoof either as a result of shifting or of having been nailed 
on crooked, or where the outer branch has not the necessary 
width, or does not form a sufficiently large curve, the wear will 
be increased. 


86 HORSESHOEING. 


Also the relative length of side-walls, or of toe and heels, 
influences rapidity of wear of the shoe. If through ignorance 
or carelessness one side-wall be left too long, the branch beneath 
will meet the ground before other parts of the shoe and will 
wear faster (see Figs. 87, 88 and 89). 

The wear of the hoof upon the shoe occurs as a result of the 
movements of the quarters. Visible indications of this are the 
brightly polished, often sunken places upon the bearing-surface 
of the ends of the branches, showing that scouring occurs be- 
tween the horn and the iron. Shoes which show brightly pol- 
ished places in their anterior halves have been loose. The wear 
of the quarters upon the shoe is not always uniform, but is 
usually greater on the inner than on the outer quarter, especially 
in base-wide feet. The degree of this wear of the hoof may be 
from nothing to one-fourth of an inch or more from one shoeing 
to the next. Finally, we should remember that this usually 
invisible scouring away of the hoof gradually causes the nails 
at the quarters to become loose. and that this is more clearly 
marked in the front than in the hind hoofs. 


G. Physiological Movements of the Hoof. (Mechanism of the 
Hoof.) 


These movements comprise all those changes of position 
within and of the hoof which are brought about by alternately 
weighting and relieving the foot, and which are manifest as 
changes of form of the hoof. The following changes in form of 
the hoof are most marked at the time that the hoof bears great- 
est weight,—that is, semultaneous with the greatest descent of 
the fetlock-joint. 

1. A lateral expansion over the entire region of the quarters, 
occurring simultaneously at the coronary and plantar borders. 
This expansion is small, and in general varies between one- 
fiftieth and one-twelfth of an inch. 

2, A narrowing of the anterior half of the hoof measured 
at the coronary border. 


HORSESHOEING. 87 


3. A decrease in height of the hoof, with a slight sinking 
of the heels. 

4, A flattening (sinking) of the sole, especially in its 
branches. 

These changes of form are much more pronounced in the 
half of the hoof that bears the greater weight. 

A hoof while supporting the body-weight has a different form, 
and the tissues enclosed 
within it a different posi- 
tion, than when not bear- 
ing weight. Since load- 
ing and unloading of the 
foot are continually al- 
ternating, the relations 
of internal pressure even 
in the standing animal 
are continuously chang- 
ing, so that, strictly 
speaking, the hoof is 
never at rest. 


The changes in form 
. s oe Transverse vertical section through the middle of a 
take place ve the follow right fore shod hoof of base-wide form, viewed from 


ing order: the  body-_ behind. The outer wall having been insufficiently low- 
= c ered has caused increased wear of the underlying 
weight falls from above branch of the shoe: a, wear of inner branch (beneath 
the relatively short wall); 6, greater wear of outer 

upon the OS corone, OS phranch beneath the relatively long wall; c, the horn 
pe dis : and navieular between the dotted line and the shoe represents the 


surplus length of this outer wall. 

bone, and at the moment 

that the foot is placed upon the ground is transmitted through 
the sensitive laminz and horny lamine to the wall. At the in- 
stant that the fetlock reaches its lowest point the os pedis bears 
the greatest weight. Under the body-weight the latter yields, 
and with the navicular bone sinks downward and backward. At 
the same time the upper posterior portion of the os corone (Fig. 
90, A) passes backward and downward between the lateral car- 
tilages (a), which project above the upper border of the wall, 


88 HORSESHOEING. 


and presses the perforans tendon down upon the plantar cushion, 
The plantar cushion being compressed from above, and being un- 
able to expand downward, is correspondingly squeezed out 
towards the sides and crowded against the lateral cartilages, and 
they, yielding, press against and push before them the wall at 
the quarters. The resistance of the earth acts upon the plantar 
surface of the hoof, and especially upon the frog, and it, widen- 
ing, crowds the bars apart, and in this manner contributes to 
the expansion of the quarters, especially at their plantar border 
(see Fig, 90), The horny sole under the descent and pressure 
of the os pedis sinks a 
little—that is, the arch 
of the sole becomes 
somewhat flattened. All 
these changes are much 
more marked upon 
sound unshod hoofs, be- 
cause in them the re- 
sistance of the earth 
upon the sole and frog 


is pronounced and com- 
Vertical, transverse section of a foot seen from behind: plete. These changes in 


A, os corone; B, os navicularis; C, os pedis; a, lateral f A ’ 7 ae 
cartilage; b, anterior portion of fleshy frog; c, section of orm are more marked 


- d, sus -iF f Se ° 
perforans tendon; d, suspensory ligament of the navicu in front feet than in 


lar bone; 1, wall; m, sole; n, white line; o, frog. 
hind. In defective and 
diseased hoofs it may happen that at the moment of greatest 
weight-bearing, instead of an expansion a contraction may 
occur at the plantar border of the quarters. 
Three highly elastic organs there are which play the chief 
part in these movements,—namely, the lateral cartilages, the 
plantar cushion, and the horny frog. Besides these structures, 


indeed, all the remaining parts of the horn capsule, especially 
its coronary border, possess more or less elasticity, and con- 
tribute to the above-mentioned changes of form. 

In order to maintain the elastic tissues of the foot in their 
proper activity, regular and abundant exercise, with protection 


HORSESHOEING. 89 


against drying out of the hoof, are absolutely necessary, because 
the movements of the different structures within the foot and 
the changes of form that occur at each step are indispensable in 
preserving the health of the hoof. Long-continued rest in the 
stable, drying out of the hoof, and shoeing decrease or alter the 
physiological movements of the foot, and these lead under cer- 
tain conditions to foot diseases, with which the majority of 
horse owners are entirely unacquainted. 

As an outward, visible indication of the mobility of the 
quarters upon the shoe we may point to the conspicuous, brightly 
polished, and often sunken spots, or grooves, upon the ends of 
the branches. They are produced partly by an in-and-out 
motion of the walls at the quarters, and partly by a forward 
and backward gliding of the quarters upon the shoe. 

The benefits of these physiological movements within the 
hoof are manifold: 

1. Through them shock is dispersed and the body protected 
from the evil consequences of concussion or shock, 

2. These movements increase the elasticity of the entire 
limb, and in this way contribute much to a light and elegant gait. 

3. They maintain a lively circulation of blood in the vessels 
of the pododerm, and this insures a rapid growth of horn. 

Since it is a generally accepted fact that shoeing interferes 
with the physiological movements of the hoof, alters them, in- 
deed, almost suppresses them, and that all these movements are 
spontaneous and natural only in sound unshod hoofs, we are 
justified in regarding shoeing as a necessary evil. However, it 
is indispensable if we wish to render horses serviceable upon 
hard artificial roads. If, in shoeing, consideration be given to 
the structure and functions of the hoof, and particularly to 
the hoof-surface of the shoe, the ends of the branches being 
provided with a smooth, level bearing-surface, which allows 
free play to the elastic horn capsule, in so far as this is not 
hindered by the nails we need have no fear of subsequent dis- 
ease of the hoofs, provided the horse is used with reason and 
receives proper care. 


PART II. 


CHAP T ERs: 
SHOEING HEALTHY HOOFS. 


A. Examination of a Horse Preliminary to Shoeing. 


Aw examination should be made while the animal isat rest, 
and afterwards while in motion. The object of the examination 
is to gain accurate knowledge of the direction and movements 
of the limbs, of the form and character of.the feet and hoofs, of 
the manner in which the foot reaches and leaves the ground, 
of the form, length, position, and wear of the shoe, and dis- 
tribution of the nail-holes, in order that at the next and sub- 
sequent shoeings all ascertained peculiarities of hoof-form may 
be kept in mind and all discovered faults of shoeing corrected. 

The examination is best conducted in the following order: 
The horse should first be led at a walk in a straight line from 
the observer over as level a surface as possible, then turned 
about and brought back, that the examiner may notice the 
direction of the limbs and the manner in which the hoofs are 
moved and set to the ground. While the animal is moving 
away the observer notices particularly the hind limbs, and as 
it comes towards him he examines the fore-limbs. Then a few 
steps at a trot will not only show whether or not the animal 
is lame, but will often remove all doubt in those cases in which, 
while the animal was walking, the examiner was unable to 
make up his mind as to which was the predominating position 
of the limb. The problem presented is, therefore, to determine 
whether or not the direction of the limbs, the lines of flight 
of the hoofs, and the manner in which they are set down and 
picked up are regular. If there are deviations from the normal 

90 


HORSESHOEING. 91 


they will fall either into the base-wide and toe-wide group or 
into the base-narrow and toe-narrow group. When clear upon 
these points the horse is allowed to stand quietly, and the ob- 
server, placing himself in front, examines the foot more closely, 
fixes the direction of the foot axis clearly in his mind, marks 
also the form and character of the hoofs and the position of 
the coronets, as far as these parts can be inspected from in 
front. At the same time each hoof should be closely inspected 
to determine whether the slant of both quarters corresponds 
to the direction of the long pastern, and whether the course of 
the wall from the coronet to the plantar border is straight or 
bent in or out (contraction, fulness). Walls curved from above 
to below always indicate an unnatural height of some section 
of the wall and a displacement of the base of support of the 
foot. In order to gain accurate and complete knowledge of the 
position of the limbs, the flight of the hoofs, and the manner 
of setting the foot to the ground, the horse must frequently be 
moved back and forth many times, especially when the stand- 
ing position is somewhat irregular and the hoofs are of different 
shapes. 
At this point begins the examination of the position of the 
limbs, and the form of the feet and hoofs, in profile. After 
casting a glance over the entire body, so as to gain an idea of 
the animal’s weight, height, and length, the attention is turned 
to the position and direction of the limbs and hoofs. The eye 
should particularly note whether the form of the hoof cor- 
responds to the position of the limb, and, furthermore, whether 
the slant of the pastern is the same as that of the wall at the 
toe,—that is, whether the foot axis is straight or broken; also 
whether the toes and quarters are parallel, for the toe is some- 
times bulging (convex) or hollowed out (concave) between the 
coronet and plantar border, and the quarters are frequently con- 
tracted and drawn or shoved under the foot (weak quarters). 
If the wall present rings the observer should note their position 
with reference to one another and to the coronet, and also their 


92 HORSESHOEING. 


extent, and, furthermore, should determine whether or not they 
cross one another (thrush of the frog). At the same time he 
should notice the length of the shoes. 

Next, the feet should be raised and the examiner should 
notice the width of the hoof, the arching of the sole, the char- 
acter of the frog, the position of the bulbs of the heel, as well 
as the presence of any cracks or clefts in the wall. Then the 
old shoes should be examined as to their age, form, the distribu- 
tion and direction of their nail-holes (‘* punching”), position, 
and wear. With respect to the form of the old shoe, one 
should observe whether or not it corresponds to the form of 
the hoof. The same careful examination should be made of 
the number and distribution of the nail-holes. As regards the 
position of the shoe, one must first ascertain whether it com- 
pletely covers the bearing-surface of the wall, and whether the 
shoe extends beyond the wall at any point and has caused in- 
terfering or given rise to irregular wear. Finally, the wear of 
the shoe should be observed, and the following points borne in 
mind: One-sided wear, uneven setting down of the feet, and an 
unnatural course of the wall are often found together, especially 
when uneven wearing of the shoe has existed for a long time, 
—that is, during several shoeings. Ass a rule, in such a ease 
the more worn branch of the shoe is too near the centre of the 
foot, and the opposite branch too far from the centre (too 
“ full”’); in other words, the base of support (shoe) has been 
shifted too far in the direction of the less worn branch. More- 
over, increased wear of a part of a shoe is an indication that the 
section of the wall above it is too high (too long) (Fig. 89), 
or that the wall upon the opposite side of the foot is too low 
(short). The twisting movement of many hind feet should, 
from physiological reasons, not be hindered by shoeing. 


B. Raising and Holding the Feet of the Horse to be Shod. 


This ean always be done without much trouble if the horse 
has been accustomed to it from early colthood. Certain rules 


HORSESHOEING. 93 


governing the manner of taking hold of the feet, and of after- 
wards manipulating them, are of value. 

A shoer should never grasp a foot suddenly, or with both 
hands. The horse should first be prepared for this act. First 
see that the horse stands in such a position that he can bear his 
weight comfortably upon three legs. This is well worth notic- 
ing, and if the horse does not voluntarily assume such an easy 
position, move him gently until his feet are well under his body. 

If the shoer, for example, wishes to raise the left fore foot 
for inspection, he stands on the left side facing the animal, 
speaks quietly to him, places the palm of the right hand flat 
upon the animal’s shoulder, and, at the same time, with the left 
hand strokes the limb downward to the cannon and seizes the 
cannon from in front. With the right hand he now gently 
presses the horse towards the opposite side, and the foot be- 
coming loose as the weight is shifted upon the other leg, he lifts 
it from the ground. The right hand now grasps the pastern 
from the inside followed by the left hand upon the inside and 
the right hand on the outside; then, turning partly to the 
right, the holder supports the horse’s leg upon his left leg, in 
which position he should always stand as quietly and firmly as 
possible. If, now, the shoer desires to have both hands free 
to work upon the hoof, he grasps the toe with the left hand in 
such a manner that the toe rests firmly in the palm while the 
four fingers are closely applied to the wall of the toe, takes a 
half step toward the rear, passes the hoof behind his left knee 
into his right hand which has been passed backward between 
his knees to receive it, and drawing the hoof forward outward 
and upward supports it firmly on his two knees,—the legs just 
above the knees being applied tightly against the pastern. The 
forefoot should not be raised higher than the knee (carpus), 
nor the hind foot higher than the hock, nor either foot be drawn 
too far backward. The correct standing position of the shoer 
or floorman while holding a front foot is shown in Fig. 91. 
Shortness of stature (5’-5’.6’) is desirable in a floorman. 


94 HORSESHOEING. 


In lifting the left hind foot the animal should be gently 
stroked back as far as the angle of the hip, against which the 
left hand is placed for support, while the right hand strokes the 
limb down to the middle of the cannon, which it grasps from 
behind. While the left hand presses the animal’s weight over 
towards the right side, 
the right hand loosens 
the foot and carries it 
forward and outward 
from the body so that 
the limb is bent at the 
hock. The holder then 
turns his body towards 
the right, brings his 
left leg against the an- 
terior surface of the 
fetlock-joint, and car- 
ries the foot backward, 
at which time his left 
arm passes over the 


Fie. 91. 


horse’s eroup and 
above and to the inner 
side of the hock. 
Finally, both hands 
encompass the long 
pastern. 

If the right feet 
are to be raised, the 


process is simply 


Proper position for holding a front foot. 


reversed. 

In raising the feet no unnecessary pain should be inflicted 
by pinching, squeezing, or lifting a limb too high. The wise 
shoer avoids all unnecessary clamor and disturbance; quiet, 
rapid, painless methods avail much more. In dealing with 
young horses the feet should not be kept lifted too long; let 


HORSESHOEING. 


re =: 

Nizz=== 
mn SI 

a 


Ss) 
SSS] 


Se 


LF LED LEI LEP LD LY LEE 


Sy 


iii 


The Martin horse rack (modified). 


96 HORSESHOEING. 


them down from time to time. In old and stiff horses the 
feet should not be lifted too high, especially in the beginning 
of the shoeing. 

Vicious horses must often be severely handled. Watch 
the play of the ears and eyes continually, and immediately 
punish every exhibition of temper either by jerking the halter 
or bridle vigorously, or by loud commands. If this does not 
avail, then if soft ground is at hand make the horse back as 
rapidly as possible for some time over this soft surface; it is 
very disagreeable and tiresome to him. To raise a hind foot 
we may knot a strong, broad, soft, plaited band (side line) 
into the tail, loop it about the fetlock of the hind foot, and 
hold the end. This often renders valuable service. The 
holder seizes the band close to the fetlock, draws the foot 
forward under the body, and then holds it as above de- 
scribed. The use of such a band compels the horse to carry 
a part of his own weight, and at the same time hinders him 
from kicking. Before attempting to place this rope or band 
about the fetlock, the front foot on the same side should be 
raised. 

The various sorts of twitches are objectionable, and their 
use should not be allowed unless some painful hoof operation 
is to be done. The application of the tourniquet, or “ Spanish 
windlass,” to the hind leg is equally objectionable. 

Those horses which resist our attempts to shoe them we 
do not immediately cast or place in the stocks, but first have a 
quiet, trustworthy man hold them by the bridle-reims and 
attempt by gentle words and soft caresses to win their attention 
and confidence. 

Ticklish horses must be taken hold of boldly, for light 
touches of the hand are to such animals much more unpleasant 
than energetic, rough handling. Many ticklish horses allow 
their feet to be raised when they are grasped suddenly without 
any preparatory movements. 


HORSESHOEING. i 


C. Removing the Old Shoes. 


If a horse’s hoofs are healthy, all the shoes may be taken 
off at the same time, but there are certain diseases of the 
hoof in which this should not be done. 

The rule to follow in removing every 
shoe is to draw it cautiously, not wrench 
it away with violence. Hoofs which are 
dirty should first be cleansed, preferably 
with a stiff brush. Next, the clinches 
should be carefully lifted by means of a 
rather dull clinch cutter (Fig. 93), with- 
out injuring the horn of the wall. In order, 
now, that the nails may be removed singly, 
the shoe must be slightly hfted. This 
may be done in one of two ways. 

The shoer may use a pair of pin- Fic. 93. 
eers (Fig. 94), with broad bills 
which will encompass the branch 
of the shoe and come well together 
underneath it. The handles of the 
pincers are then moved in the di- 
rection of the branches of the shoe. 
The second method consists in rais- 
ing the branches of the shoe by driv- 
ing the nail-cutter from behind be- TTT 
tween the shoe and hoof and using i: 
it as a lever or pry to loosen the 

shoe. Sauipe Boma No 

Violent and excessive twisting 
of the hoof and straining of ligaments may easily occur, but 
the smith should guard against them by supporting the hoof 
with the left hand or with the leg just above the knee, while 
loosening the shoe. 

re 


98 HORSESHOEING. 


D. Preparing the Hoof for the Shoe. 


This preparation is usually termed paring, trimming, or 
dressing. It is a most important step in the process of shoeing, 
and its object is to shorten the hoof, which has grown too long 
under the projection of the shoe, and prepare it to receive the 
new shoe. The instruments needed for this work are the rasp 
and the hoof-knife (Fig. 95); upon large and hard hoofs a 


reed: 


German hoof set with detachable hook blades. (W. M. Kunde, Dresden): a,a, hoof 
blades; 6, pus searcher; c, scalpel. 


pair of sharp nippers (Fig. 96), or a sharp hewing knife, with 
broad handle and perfectly flat, smooth sides, may be used, 
since these instruments will considerably facilitate and hasten 
the work. 

After the shoer has carefully examined the hoofs in the man- 
ner described upon pages 90, 91, and 92, and has fixed in mind 
the relation of the height of the hoofs to the size and weight 
of the body, he cleanses the hoof and removes all stubs of old 


HORSESHOEING. 99 


nails. At the same time he should be asking himself 7f, 
where, and how much horn is to be removed. In all eases all 
loosely attached fragments of horn are to be removed, for ex- 
ample, chips of horn produced by repeated bending and stretch- 
ing of the lower border of the wall. The sole is then freed 
from all flakes of dead horn. The shoer then 
runs the rasp around the outer border of the 
wall and breaks it off to the depth to which 
he thinks it should be shortened, and then 
cuts the wall down to its union with the sole, 
so that at least one-eighth of an inch of the 
edge of the sole lies in the same level as the 
bearing-surface of the wall. Finally, the wall, 
white line, and outer margin of the sole, form- 
ing the ‘‘ bearing-surface,”’” must be rasped until 
they are perfectly horizontal, except that at the 
toe of forehoofs this bearing-surface may be 
rasped slightly upward (rolled toe). 

In dressing the hoof the branches of the frog 
should always be left prominent enough to pro- 
ject. beyond the bearing-surface of the quarters 
about the thickness of an ordinary flat shoe. 
If it be weakened by paring, it is deprived of 
its activity, shrinks, and the hoof becomes nar- 
row to a corresponding degree. The frog should, 
therefore, be trimmed only when it is really too 
prominent. However, loose and diseased par- 


i] 


ticles of horn may be trimmed away when it is 
affected with thrush, Nippers. 
The bars should be spared and _ never 

shortened except when too long. Their union with the wall at 
the quarters must in no case be weakened, and never eut through 
(opening up the heels). They should be left as high as the 
wall at the quarters, or only a little less, while the branches of 
the sole should lie about one-eighth of an inch lower. 


100 HORSESHOEING. 


The buttress (angle formed by the union of wall and bar) 
requires special attention. In healthy unshod hoofs the bars 
run backward and outward in a straight line from the anterior 
third of the frog. In shod hoofs, however, it happens that the 
buttresses gradually lengthen, curl inward, and press upon 
the branches of the frog, causing the latter to shrink. In such 
cases the indication is to remove these prolongations of horn 
from the buttresses so as to restore to the bars their normal 
direction. 

The sharp edge of the plantar border of the wall should be 
broken away with a rasp until the relative thickness of the 
wall equals its absolute thickness. (Fig. 97). However, in 
healthy hoofs, that is, in those whose 


Fic. 97. 


walls are straight from the coronet to 
the ground, the outer surface of the 
wall should never be rasped. The 
only exceptions to this rule are those 
eases in which there is an outward 
bending of the lower edge of the wall, 
most frequent on the inner side wall 
and quarter. 

With respect to the inclination 
Longitudinal (vertical) sectionof of the ground-surface of the hoof to 
the wall at the toe: acis the abso- ; 4 . 
lite andap the selativetiiciness the direction Of the foot axis; sas 
of the yall, Sy ihe os vw cae viewed from-in front; the follewane 


and the line ac as a radius, a circle 


is drawn; the corner of horn in ie ne a 
front of this circle and indicated facts are established : ‘ a: 
by dotted lines is to be removed In the regular standing position of 
with the rasp. ; : = 

the limbs (seen from in front) the 
plantar surface of a hoof is at right angles to the foot axis, and 
the outer and inner walls are of equal heights. 

In the base-wide position of the limbs the plantar hoof- 
surface is more or less inclined to the foot axis, usually to a 
very small degree, and the outer wall is somewhat higher 
(longer) and more slanting than the inner. 


In the base-narrow position of the limbs the plantar hoof- 


HORSESHOEING. 101 


surface is more or less inclined to the direction of the foot axis, 
usually quite considerably, and the inner wall is somewhat 
higher than the outer. 

The foot is observed from the side in order to determine 
the proper relation of the length of the toe to the height of 
the quarters. 

In this also the foot axis is our guide. If this axis is as it 
should be, the wall at the toe and the long pastern will have the 
same slant (Figs. 67, 68 and 69). If the hoof has become too 
long under the protection of the shoe, this will be shown by 
the foot axis being no longer a straight line, but broken back- 


Fia. 98. Fic. 99. Fia. 100. 
my | fll 
f | H | 
i iM il i 
ae Bg 
f | y Al hi y\ 
Ai i! My 
Waitt bY Pin 
Via @ ue fy} / 
BETA MN f fin i i ‘ Cf g Cl G ¥ 
Yi “a Ly by (i 
a ie Le If ah 
ae i 
An untrimmed hoof with An untrimmed hoof with Hoof dressed and foot 
an excess of horn (a) at the an excess of horn (6) at the axis straightened by re- 
toe which breaks the foot heels, which breaks the foot moving excess of horn be- 
axis backward. axis forward. low dotted lines in the two 


preceding illustrations. 


ward at the coronet (Fig. 98); that is, the hoof in comparison 
with the fetlock will be too slanting. By shortening the toe 
more than the quarters this faulty relation will be corrected 
(Fig. 100) and the foot restored to its proper slant. If the 
quarters are too long (too high) in comparison with the length 
of the toe, the foot axis will be broken forward at the coronet 
(Fig. 99), and the hoof will be too upright. By shortening 
the quarters more than the toe the foot axis may be made 
straight. The plantar surface of the hoof is therefore correct 
(balanced) when the horse places the foot flat upon the 
ground in travelling, and when the lines bounding the hoof, 


102 HORSESHOEING. 


viewed from in front, from behind, and in profile, correspond to 
the direction of the three phalanges (foot axis). 

Finally, this fact should be emphasized, that in changing 
from flat shoes to those with calks, or the reverse, the hoofs 
must first be dressed in accordance, so that the foot axes will 
remain straight, and the feet be set always flat to the ground 
when the new shoes are on. Each hoof, when ready for the 
new shoe, should be let down and the horse allowed to stand 
upon it while it is again carefully examined and. closely 
compared with the opposite hoof. Only after such close 
inspection has proved the dressing to be faultless can the 
hoof be considered as properly prepared and ready for the 
shoe. The two front hoofs and the two hind hoofs, when the 
legs are in the same position, should not only be of equal 
size, but also in proper relation to the size and weight of the 


body. 
E. Preparing the Hoof for going Barefoot. 


This becomes necessary when the nature of the ground and 
the kind of service required of the horse render shoeing un- 
necessary. However, to go barefoot the hoof must have plenty 
of horn. After removing the shoes the frog should be pared 
down nearly to the level of the wall, and the sharp outer 
edge of the wall well rounded off with the rasp, in some cases 
as far as the white line, otherwise large pieces of the wall will 
readily break away. Hoots with very slanting walls must be 
more strongly rounded off than upright hoofs. Going bare- 
foot strengthens the hoofs. From time to time the condition 
of these shoeless hoofs should be ascertained by inspection, and 
any growing fault in shape or direction of the horn immediately 
corrected. It quite frequently happens that the sharp edge of 
the wall must be repeatedly rounded, especially on very oblique 
walls (outer half of base-wide hoofs), and the quarters may 
require frequent shortening, because they are not always worn 
away as fast as the horn at the toe. 


HORSESHOEING. 103 


F. Making Shoes.* 


Besides good, tough iron for the shoe, we need an anvil with 
a round horn and a small hole at one end, a round-headed 
turning-hammer, a round sledge, a stamping hammer, a pritchel 
of good steel, and, if a fullered shoe is to be made, a round 
fuller. Bodily activity and, above all else, a good eye for 
measurement are not only desirable, but necessary. A shoe 
should be made thoughtfully, but yet quickly enough to make 
the most. of the heat. 

The iron of which horseshoes are made is derived from the 
natural iron ore. Iron used for technical purposes is not 
chemically pure. Pure iron is rather too soft, and is there- 
fore mixed with different substances, mostly with ‘“ carbon,” 
the most important ingredient of our fuel. Of course, the iron 
contains a, very small quantity of carbon (0.5 to 5 per cent.). 
When iron contains more than 2.3 per cent. of carbon it is 
hard, brittle, and more easily melted, and is known as crude 
iron, or raw iron, because it is derived from the raw product, 
—hlack ore. The melted crude iron is ealled cast iron. ‘Tron 
is ductile when it contains less than 2.3 per cent. of carbon, 
and is then called forge iron, or wrought iron. Wrought iron 
is fusible only at a high temperature. Only weldable iron 
containing less than 1.6 per cent. of carbon is suitable for gen- 
eral use. Of this iron we distinguish two sorts,—steel and 
wrought iron. <A larger percentage of carbon is found in steel 


* On a shoe we distinguish an outer and an inner branch. The 
anterior portion, formed by the union of the two branches, is called 
the toe. The upper surface, upon which the hoof rests, is called the 
hoof-surface, and the under surface, which is in contact with the 
ground, the ground-surface. That portion of the hoof-surface which 
is In direct contact with the lower border of the wall, the white line, 
and a narrow margin of the sole is termed the bearing-surface, and 
when necessary “ coneaving” (seating) extends from this to the inner 
border of the shoe. On the ground-surface is seen the “ fullering” or 
“ crease.” 


104 HORSESHOEING. 


than in wrought iron. Steel is hard, can be tem- 
pered, and may be called tempered wrought iron, In 
order to temper or harden steel, bring it to a cherry- 
red heat, and then cool it suddenly by dipping it in 
cold water or wet sand. The tempered steel can again 
be softened as desired by heating and slowly cooling. 
By heating to a high temperature in a forge wrought 
iron will become 
doughy, and 
may then be in- 
timately united 
(welded) with 
another piece 
at the same 
temperature by 
pressure or 
hammering. 
This property 
is called weld- 
ability; it is of 
great impor- 
tance in making 
horse-shoes. The 
heating of iron 
until it reaches the welding stage is called getting a 
“heat.” The act of welding wrought iron with steel 
is called “ steeling.” 

Regarding the tools, the following hints are 
sufficient: 

The anvil should have a level, smooth, flat steel 
face. 

Likewise, the round head and flat face of both 
turning-hammer and sledge should be smooth. 

On the fullering-hammer (Fig. 101) the left side 
is flat, the right side convex, and the cutting edge has 
slightly rounded corners. 


Fuller. Hammer punch. 


Fic. 103. 
CUT 


co 


Pritchel. 


HORSESHOEING. 105 


The hardy, fullering-hammer, and cold chisel should be 
flawless on the edge. 

The punch (Fig. 102), used to make the nail-holes in the 
shoe, has a dull point, which should correspond in size with 
the head of the horseshoe-nail and have slightly rounded 
corners. 

The pritchel (Fig. 103) should not taper to a point, but 
should end in a rectangular surface whose length is twice its 
width, in order to punch iron through the shoe under the 
blow of the hammer. 


Making the Shoe. 


To make a flat shoe, take the length of the hoof from the point of 
the toe to the buttress and the greatest width of the hoof; these two 
measurements, when added together, give the length of the bar for the 
shoe. The bar should be of such width and thickness as will require 
the least amount of working. For a bar-shoe or a shoe with heel-calks 
the bar must be correspondingly longer. 

Should we wish to preserve the exact outline of the plantar border 
of the wall, we may advantageously use such a podometer as is shown 
in Fig. 104. This consists of a perforated sheet-iron plate one-sixteenth 
to one-twelfth of an inch thick. This is laid upon the hoof, and the 
outline of the wall marked upon it with chalk. 

If necessary, the hoof may be set on a piece of smooth, stiff 
wrapping paper or card-board, and the outline of the wall closely 
traced with a lead pencil. 


To make a front shoe (Figs. 107 and 108), heat the bar 
white-hot just beyond its middle, place the head of the sledge 
hammer across one end of the face of the anvil, hold the un- 
heated end of the bar on the head of the sledge,—the heated 
end resting on the face of the anvil, and bend the bar into a 
half-cirele with the round head of the turning-hammer. (The 
outer branch of all shoes is made first; in making pairs the 
right shoe is made first. ) The extreme end of the heated bar 
is drawn out to the desired width and thickness with the 
sledge. The bent branch is then placed obliquely across the 
heel of the horn of the anvil, is turned over toward the right 


106 HORSESHOEING. 


till it rests upon an edge, and is then bevelled diamond-shaped 
from the toe to the end of the branch. [The edge in contact 
with the horn is the inner edge of the right branch (outer 
branch) of the right shoe; the edge beaten down by the hammer 
is the outer edge of the outer branch.] The branch is then 
flattened on the anvil because in the bending the outer edge 
has been stretched and thinned, while the iron of the inner 
edge has been crowded together (back-set) and thickened. In 
flattening, the shoe should be left 
a trifle thinner on the inner edge. 
The branch is again placed over 
the horn, and gone over lghtly 
with the flat head of the turning- 
hammer and brought to a proper 
shape. It is now to be econcaved 
with or without the help of the 


Fiac. 104. 


sledge, or the coneaving may be 
omitted. The concaving should 
end about three-fourths of an 
inch from the end of the branch. 
Now turn the branch and fuller 
it, or fuller it first and concave 
afterwards. The fuller should 
be set in about one-twelfth of 
an inch from the edge for small 


Podometer. 


shoes, somewhat more for large shoes, and led from the end of 
the branch towards the toe, twice being necessary to make the 
fullering of sufficient depth. Next, stamp the holes, punch 
them through with the pritchel, run over the surfaces, go over 
the outer edge of the shoe upon the horn, and, finally, hammer 
the bearing-surface smooth and horizontal. The left branch is 
made in the same way, except that it is turned to the left and 
the fullering carried from the toe to the heel. Any ordinary 
shoe can andshould be completed in the rough in two heats. 
One pair of shoes requires from eight to fifteen minutes. 


HORSESHOKEING. 107 


The hind shoe (Fig. 116) is made in like manner, but the 
branches are not bent in a circle but given that form shown in 
Fig. 106. Concaving is not necessary; it is sufficient merely 
to round the inner edge of the web. 


EGalO5s Fic. 106. 


The curvature of a branch of a front shoe. The curvature of a branch of a hind shoe. 


Since in bending the shoe, and especially the toe of a hind 
shoe, the inner edge is crowded together (back-set) and thick- 
ened to the same extent that the outer edge is stretched and 
thinned, we must remember to do away with these inequalities 
of thickness and strain by hammering the shoe smooth. 


Peculiarities of the Shoe. 


They are dependent upon the structure, direction, and posi- 
tion of the leg and hoof, as well as upon the horse’s service and 
the nature of the ground. Since the shoe is an artificial base 
of support, and since a proper surface of support is of the 
greatest Importance in preserving the soundness of the feet and 
legs, careful attention must be given to this matter. Naturally 
shoes designed for the various forms of hoofs must present 
equally great and equally numerous differences of form, as well 
as other peculiarities. 

General Properties. 1. Form.—A form corresponding to 
the shape of the hoof is indispensable in every shoe. Front and 


108 HORSESHOEING. 


hind and right and left shoes should be sharply defined and 
easily distinguishable. Front shoes must, above all else, be 
circular round at the toe. Hind shoes, on the contrary, should 
be round pointed at the toe, yet not too much so, but as in 
Fig, 116. 

2. Width.—All shoes should be wider webbed (more coy- 
ered) at the toe than at the ends of the branches. The medium 
width should be about twice the thickness of the wall. 

3. Thickness——Each shoe should, in general terms, be so 
thick that it need not be renewed under four weeks. Lungwitz 


Fia. 107. Fig. 108. 


Right front Lae my surface. Right front shoe, hoof-surface: a, bearing-sur- 
face; b, concaving, or ‘‘seating.”’ 


found that the average required thickness is about seven-six- 
teenths of an inch. Of course, this thickness must be dimin- 
ished or increased according to the rapidity of wear of the shoe. 
Shoes without calks should be of uniform thickness, unless there 
are special reasons for making them otherwise. 

4, Length.—For draft-horses they should be long enough 
to reach the bulbs of the heel, otherwise shorter, though in other 
respects they may differ (see “ special properties ”), but should 
in all cases completely cover the bearing-surface of the hoof. 

5. Surfaces.—That part of the hoof-surface of the shoe 
which is in contact with the hoof (bearing-surface of the shoe, 


HORSESHOEING. 109 


Fia. ie 


Fig. 109, a) should be horizontal and wide enough to cover 
the wall, the white line, and from a twelfth to an eighth of 
an inch of the outer edge of the sole. Shoes for large hoofs 
require a broader bearing-surface than those for small hoofs. 
The coneaving, or “seating” (Fig. 109, b), should be made 
deeper or shallower, according to the nature 

of the sole. Shoes for hoofs with strongly 

arched (very concave) soles, do not require ae ; K i 
any concaving (hind hoofs, narrow fore- y NU 
hoofs). The object of concaving 1s to pre- ~ oe . tion of a 
vent pressure of the shoe upon the horny sole branch of a front shoe: a, 
except at its margin. ern eae 

The ground-surface of the shoe should be “"*5*)) @ BAPhole- 
flat and perfectly horizontal, except at the toe, which may be 
turned upward (rolled toe, “ rolling motion ”’). 

6. Borders.—The outer border should usually be moderately 
base-narrow,—that is, the cireumference of the ground-surface 
of the shoe should be less than the cireumference of its hoof- 
surface; in other words, the entire outer border of the shoe 
should be bevelled under the foot. Shoes made base-narrow 
are not so easily loosened, and materially assist in preventing 
interfering. The inner border should be moderately rounded. 


Fic. 110. 


(a) correct and (6) incorrect fullering. 


7. The “Fullering ” (Fig. 109, c).—In depth it should be 
about two-thirds the thickness of the shoe, of uniform width, 
and “clean.” A fullering is not absolutely necessary, but it 
makes the shoe lighter in proportion to its size, facilitates a 
uniform placing of the nail-holes, renders the ground-surface 
somewhat rough, and, because it is rather difficult to make, in- 
creases the workman’s skill. 


110 HORSESHOEING. 


8. Nail-Holes (lig. 109, d).—The importance of the nail- 
holes, as regards their character, number, distribution, depth, 
and direction,cannot be over-estimated, because by the nails 
which are driven through them the stability of the shoe upon 
the hoof should be maintained without injuring the sensitive 
structures, splitting the horny wall, or immoderately interfering 
with the elasticity of the foot. Each nail-hole should taper 
uniformly from the ground to the hoof-surface (funnel-shaped). 
For a medium-weight shoe six nail-holes are sufficient, while 
for all heavy shoes, especially those with toe- and heel-calks, 


Igige, ililile Ine, IPA, 


Swiss military shoe, hoof-surface. Swiss military shoe, ground-surface. 


eight are indicated; however, it should by no means be said that 
every nail-hole should contain a nail. Hind shoes usually 
require one more nail-hole than front shoes, yet seldom more 
than eight. In front shoes the nail-holes should be placed in 
the anterior half of the shoe (Figs. 107 and 108), while in 
hind shoes they are to be placed in the anterior two-thirds of 
the shoe (Fig. 116), and in both cases so distributed that the 
toe shall be without nail-holes, except in those shoes in which it 
may be desirable to omit the nail-holes in an entire branch 


HORSESHOEING. AE 


(Fig. 153). The depth of the nail-holes—that is, their dis- 
tance from the outer edge of the shoe—will depend always 
upon the thickness of the wall, and should equal the absolute 
(real) thickness of the wall (Fig. 97). It is evident, there- 
fore, that all nail-holes should not be placed at the same depth 
(for thickness of the wall, see p. 53). 

The direction in which the nail-holes should pass through 
the shoe depends upon the obliquity of the wall. The nail- 
holes around the toe, as a rule, should incline somewhat in- 


Eres 13: 
a b ec 


a ee eee, en 


Form of clips: a, correct; b, indifferent; c, faulty. 


ward, the holes at the sides less so, while those at the quarters 
should be punched straight,—that is, should pass perpendicu- 
larly through the shoe. 

Both front and hind shoes for army horses in time of war 
and manceuvres should be so punched that one or two nails 
may be placed in the posterior half of the shoe (Figs. 111 and 
1A). 

9. Clips (Fig. 118) are half-circular, leaf-like ears drawn 
upward from the outer edge of the shoe. They should be 
strong and without flaw at the base, and somewhat higher and 
thicker upon hind than upon front shoes. Their height on flat 
shoes should equal the thickness of the shoe, while on shoes 
with leather soles, or with toe- and heel-calks they should be 
somewhat higher. 

According to their position we distinguish toe- and side- 
clips. They secure the shoe against shifting; therefore, as a 
rule, every shoe should have a toe-clip. A sideclip should 
always be drawn up on that branch of the shoe which first 
meets the ground in locomotion. 


112 HORSESHOEING. 


A Shoe with Heel-Calks.—All shoes with heel-calks de- 
signed for healthy hoofs should be so made and applied that 
they will disturb the normal setting down of the foot as little 
as possible, that the wear of the shoe will take place uniformly, 

and slipping be dimin- 
ies ls ished. The toe of the 
shoe must, therefore, 
= be left somewhat 

Shoe without calks, with perfectly level hoof- and 5 
ground-surfaces, and with roll at the toe (flat, rolling thicker than the 
ra ieee branches just in front 
Fig. 115. of the heel-calks. More- 
over, every front shoe 
with heel-calks must be 
relatively long, and be 
provided with consider- 
able rolling motion at the toe; that is, the shoe should be turned 
up at the toe, the bending beginning near the inner edge of the 
web. The three- or four-cornered, somewhat conical heel-calks 
with rounded corners should not be higher than the thickness of 
the shoe. With reference to the direction of the ends of the 
branches, we should see to it that they do not rise excessively, 
but that they assume as near as possible a horizontal direction 

in passing back to the heels (see Fig. 115). 

A Shoe with Toe- and Heel-Calks—Such a shoe should 
be of uniform thickness from end to end, and should have a 
toe-calk and two heel-calks that are somewhat stronger and 
longer than the heel-calks of a shoe which has no toe-calk. If 
to a shoe of uniform thickness, on which the heel-calks are 
somewhat higher than those already described, a piece of steel 
(Fig. 116, b) of the height of the heel-calks is welded at the 
toe, we have a shoe with toe- and heel-calks. The toe-calk 
should never be higher than the heel-calks. There are three 
principal kinds of toe-calks,—namely : 

1. The Sharp Toe-Calk.—A bar of toe-steel of proper width 
and thickness for the toe-calk is thrust with the shoe into the 


Shoe with heel-ealks for a front hoof. 


HORSESHOEING. 113 


fire. When the end of the bar is cherry-red in color it is with- 
drawn, laid across the straight hardy, and cut nearly through 
at a point a calk-length from the end. Bar and shoe are then 
brought to a welding heat, the calk quickly and securely welded 
across the toe of the shoe, the bar wrenched away, the calk gone 
over again with the hammer, when it is immediately beaten out 
to a sharp edge from the anterior face, either over the far edge 
of the anvil, or in a foot-vise. The posterior face of a sharp 
toe-calk should be perpendicular to the ground-surface of the 
shoe. Machine-made toe-calks,—sharp, half-sharp and blunt, 
provided with a sharp spud at one or both ends, are in general 
use. Their use requires 
two heats, and the sharp 
cealk is blunted in the 
welding. 

2. The Blunt Toe- 
Calk.—It is a rather long 
rectangular piece of toe- 
steel, straight, or curved to 
conform to the toe of the 
shoe. The — shoe-surface 
and the ground-surface of 
the calk are of equal di- 


mensions. It should be 
a = Right hind shoe with toe- and heel-calks: a, heel- 
welded on in one heat. calks; b, toe-calk; c, greatest width of the base of 


a - support (7.e., contact with the ground) of this shoe 
3. i h e Half Sharp when without toe- and heel-calks; d, the greatest, 
Toe-Calk (Coffin-Lid Toe- and e, the least width of the base of support of this 
: shoe with calks. 
Calk).—It resembles the 
blunt calk, except that the surface of the calk that is applied 
to the shoe is somewhat broader and longer than the sur- 
face that comes in contact with the ground. It is welded on 
in one heat. The first and third kinds are most suitable for 
winter. 
Since heel- and toe-calks raise the hoof far from the ground 
and prevent all pressure upon the frog, they diminish the 
8 


Fie. 116. 


tiles es oll 


= 
Fy 
7 
= 


Il 


114 HORSESHOEING. 


elasticity of the hoof and injure it. They are injurious also 
to the joints, because they furnish a base of support which is 
essentially smaller than that afforded by a flat shoe (Fig. 116). 
However, they are indispensable for heavy draft purposes 
on slippery roads and in winter. Upon all other roads and in 
summer they are superfluous, at least upon front hoofs, es- 
pecially as they do not wholly prevent slipping. 

Special Properties. —The many different forms of hoofs re- 
quire a great variety of shoes. Following are the special 
peculiarities of each of the chief classes of shoes. 

1. Shoe for a Regular Hoof.—Outer edge: moderately base- 
narrow (bevelled under) all around. Distribution and direction 
of the nail-holes: regular. Length: longer than the hoof by the 
thickness of the shoe (see Figs. 121 and 122). 

2. Shoe for an Acute-Angled Hoof.—Outer edge: strongly 
base-narrow around the toe, but gradually becoming perpendicu- 
lar towards the ends of the branches. Punching: regular, ex- 
cept that the nail-holes at the toe must incline inward some- 
what more than usual. Length: rather longer than the pre- 
ceding shoe (see Fig. 123). 

3. Shoe for an Upright (stumpy) Hoof.—Outer edge: per- 
pendicular at the toe; but if the hoof is very steep, then base- 
wide at the toe-—.e., bevelled downward and outward. Punch- 
ing: last nail should be placed just beyond the middle of the 
shoe. Direction of the holes: perpendicular. Length: short; at 
most, one-eighth of an inch longer than the hoof. In the case 
of a “ bear-foot ” (see Fig. 70) the shoe should be long. 

4. Shoe for a Base-Wide Hoof.—Outer edge; the outer 
branch should be moderately base-narrow,—.e., bevelled down- 
ward and inward, the inner branch perpendicular. Punching: 
upon the outer branch the holes should extend well back, while 
upon the inner branch they are to be crowded forward towards 
the toe (see Fig. 117). Length will depend upon the obliquity 
of the hoof as seen in profile (see 1, 2, and 3). 

5. Shoe for a Base-Narrow Hoof.—Outer edge: the outer 
branch either perpendicular or’ base-wide, the inner branch 


HORSESHOEING. 115 


strongly base-narrow. Punching: the nail-holes in the outer 
branch should be crowded towards the toe and, under certain 
conditions, punched deeper than the wall is thick, on account 
of the greater width of this branch; in the inner branch the 
nail-holes are to be distributed back to the quarter and punched 
light (see Fig. 118). Length will depend upon the obliquity 
of the hoof. The outer branch should be about one-fourth of 
an inch longer than the inner. 

6. Shoe for a Wide Hoof.—Somewhat wider webbed (more 


Jarre, iil, Fig. 118. 


A right front shoe for a base-wide (toe- A right front shoe for a base-narrow 
wide) hoof. The inner branch should be (toe-narrow) hoof. The outer branch is 
about one-fourth of an inch longer than wider and one-fourth of an inch longer 
the outer. than the inner. 


covered) than usual. Outer edge: bevelled under the foot all 
around (base-narrow). Punching: nail-holes carried back into 
the posterior half of the shoe (see Fig. 119). Length will 
depend upon the obliquity of the hoof. 

7. Shoe for a Narrow Hoof.—Outer edge: moderately 
bevelled under the foot at the toe (base-narrow), elsewhere 
perpendicular. Distribution of the nail-holes: regular. Direc- 
tion of the nail-holes: perpendicular and towards the quarters, 
inclining somewhat outward. The holes about the toe incline 


116 HORSESHOEING. 


somewhat inward. Length will depend upon the obliquity of 
the hoof. Concaving unnecessary (see Fig. 120). 

The forms of shoes described in paragraphs 2 to 7 differ 
from that described in paragraph 1, but are necessary in order 
to lessen the injurious consequences of irregular loading (un- 
balancing) of the feet, and of unfavorable bases of support of 
the body-weight. 

Fie. 120. 


Flat shoe for a round hoof (right front). A left front shoe for a narrow hoof. The 
concaving is unnecessary. 


G. Choosing the Shoe. 


The choice of the shoe for a given horse is not at all difficult 
after we have carefully considered his weight, the nature of his 
work, his standing position, gait, the form of his hoofs, and 
quality of the horn, bearing in mind the general and peculiar 
properties of shoes. As a rule, we choose a shoe that is longer 
than the hoof, because the latter grows and carries the shoe 
forward with it, and because the quarters gradually become 
lowered by rubbing and wearing away upon the branches of 
the shoe. The length of the shoe is of especial importance. 
For horses employed for slow, heavy-draft purposes the shoe 
supplied with heel- and toe-calks should extend backward far 


HORSESHOEING. 117 


enough to support the bulbs of the heels. On the contrary, 
horses used at a trot or gallop, as coach- and saddle-horses, 
require shorter shoes (see Fig. 124). 

The weight of the shoe should be so adjusted to the demands 
of the horse’s work, the condition of the legs (whether used up 
with work or not), and the nature of the ground that the shoeing 
will last at least a month. Uard roads and a heavy, clumsy 
gait require strong, durable shoes, which, under some con- 
ditions, are to be rendered still more durable by welding in 
steel. For moderate service upon soft roads we should use 
light shoes. Running horses require unusually thin and narrow 
shoes of steel (see Figs. 125-128). 


H. Shaping and Fitting Shoes. General Considerations. 


This is one of the most important parts of horseshoeing. 
Its object is to so fashion or shape the shoe which has been 
chosen for a particular hoof that its cireumference will exactly 
correspond to the lower circumference of the previously pre- 
pared hoof, and its bearing-surface will fit air-tight to the bear- 
ing-surface of the hoof. At this time all defects in the surfaces 
of hoof and shoe and in the nail-holes must be remedied, the 
clips drawn up, and the shoe made to fit perfectly. The bear- 
ing-surface of the shoe, especially at the ends of the branches, 
must be kept horizontal* and smooth, and its width regulated 
by the width of the bearing surface of the hoof (see page 99). 
Perfectly uniform heating is absolutely indispensable in shap- 
ing the shoe, because an irregularly heated shoe twists or 
becomes distorted at the warm places. Every shoe should be 
straight, and when held before the eye one branch should exactly 
cover the other. A flat shoe laid upon a level surface should 
touch at all parts of its ground-surface; the only exception to 


*The horizontal bearing-surface is in accordance with nature, 
because the changes of form of the hoof which take place at the 
plantar border of the wall, on burdening and unburdening the foot, 
should not be interfered with. <A horizontal bearing-surface best fulfils 
this requirement. 


~ 


118 HORSESHOEING. 


this is the shoe with a rolled toe (rolling motion), in which the 
toe is turned upward. <A shoe is termed “ trough-shaped ” when 
only the inner edge of the web rests upon the flat surface. It is 
faulty, disturbs the stability of the foot, and shifts the weight 
of the body too much upon the quarters. 

To front shoes we give a rolled toe (Fig. 121, rolling 
motion), by which we mean. a more or less pronounced upward 
turn of the toe of the shoe. Ordinarily, the toe begins to turn 
up at the middle of the web, and should be elevated about one- 
half the thickness of the iron. The rolled toe corresponds to 


Shod fore-hoof viewed in profile to show the ‘‘roll”’ at the toe. 


the natural wear of front hoofs, facilitates the “ breaking over ” 
of the feet, and insures a uniform wear of the shoe (see Fig. 
86). The shoe is made moderately hot and placed on the foot 
with the toe-clip against the wall exactly in front of the point 
of the frog. The scorched horn should be repeatedly removed 
with the rasp until a perfect-fitting bed has been made upon 
the bearing-surface of the hoof. From the bearing-surface of 
the shoe to the inner border of the web the iron must be free 
from the sole around its entire circumference. The horn sole 
should not be burnt, because the velvety tissue of the sole lies 
immediately above it. In the region of the nail-holes the outer 
borders of shoe and wall should correspond. The nail-holes 


HORSESHOEING. 119 


must under all conditions cover the white line. From the last 
nail-hole back to the ends of the branches, for hoofs of the 
regular standing position of the limbs, the shoe should gradually 
widen until it projects at each quarter from a sixteenth to an 
eighth of an inch beyond the edge of the wall. The posterior 
half of the shoe should, therefore, be somewhat wider than the 
hoof. The effect of this will be to prolong the usefulness of the 
shoes. With respect to the width of the branches, an exception 
arises in the case of hind 
shoes, in which the inner 


Jarier, 1122, 


branch, with few exceptions, 
should closely follow the bor- 
der of the wall; this will pre- 
vent interfering and tearing 
off the shoe by the opposite 
foot. 

Between the ends of the 
branches and the frog there 
should be enough room, with 
few exceptions, to pass a 
foot-pick. 

In order to judge of the 
width of a shoe which has 
been fitted to the hoof, it is 
of advantage to seize the hoof 
in the left hand and, extending it towards the ground, to 
observe from behind and above the outer border of the shoe 
and the surfaces of the wall. 

Furthermore, the most important rule is that the shoe should 
always have the form of the foot, so long as the form of the hoof 
remains unaltered. In all hoofs that have already undergone 
change of form we must strive to give the shoe that form which 
the hoof had before it underwent change. Such treatment will 
not only do the hoof no injury, but, on the contrary, is of 
advantage to it, as it is well known that in time the hoof will 
aequire the form of the shoe. 


Left fore-hoof of normal position shod. 


120 HORSESHOEING. 


Shaping and Fitting Shoes. Special Considerations. 


(a) A shoe for a hoof of the regular form fits properly when 
the outer border of the shoe in the region of the nail-holes closely 
follows the outer edge of the wall, but from the last nail-hole to 
the end of each branch extends beyond the wall from a sixteenth 
to an eighth of an inch, the shoe is straight, lies firmly and air- 
tight upon the bearing-surface of the hoof, the nail-holes fall 
exactly upon the white line, and there is sufficient space between 
the frog and the branches of the shoe for the passage of a foot- 
pick. The branches must be of equal length. 

While in fitting a shoe to a hoof of regular form we need 
pay attention only to the form of the hoof, af is very different 
when we come to shape and fit shoes to hoofs of irregular forms. 
In these cases we must consider not only the form of the hoof, 
but the position of the limbs and the distribution of weight i 
the hoof, because where the most weight falls the surface of 
support of the foot must be widened, and where least weight 
falls (on the opposite side) the surface of support must be 
narrowed. In this manner the improper distribution of weight 
within the hoof (an unbalanced foot) is regulated,—that is, is 
evenly distributed over the surface of support. The manner 
in which this is accomplished in the various forms of hoofs is 
as follows: 

(b) An acute-angled hoof requires the shoe described in 
paragraph 2, page 114. The branches must be long, because 
more of the weight falls in the posterior half of the foot, and 
long branches extend the surface of support backward, while 
the surface of support in front is to be diminished by making 
the toe of the shoe base-narrow, either by turning it up or by 
bevelling it in under the foot. A shoe for an acute-angled hoof 
fits when it is otherwise related to the hoof as is described in 
paragraph a, above. 

(c) An upright or stumpy hoof presents exactly reverse 
conditions with respect to the distribution of weight within 


HORSESHOEING. 121 


the hoof, and is treated in an exactly opposite manner. The 
surface of support should be increased at the toe and diminished 
at the quarters. This is accomplished by a shoe possessing the 
peculiarities described in paragraph 3, page 114, whose nail- 
holes are directed either straight or slightly outward. 

(d) A base-wide hoof requires the surface of support to be 
widened upon the inner side of the foot and narrowed upon the 
outer side, because the inner half of the foot bears the more 
weight. A shoe having the peculiarities described in paragraph 
4, page 114, accomplishes this end. 

(e) The base-narrow hoof is just the reverse of the preced- 
ing, and requires a shoe whose peculiarities are described in 
paragraph 5, page 114. While in the normal standing position 


1ne, W2By 


The three principal forms of hoofs shod with flat shoes. 


of the limbs, viewed from in front, the ends of the branches 
of the shoe should be equally distant from the middle of the 
median lacuna of the frog, this is not so in the base-wide and 
base-narrow positions. In the base-wide position the outer and 
in the base-narrow position the inner branch should be some- 
what farther from the median lacuna than the branch of the 
opposite side. 

(f) The wide hoof has too large a surface of support, and, 
therefore, the shoe designed for it should possess the peculiar- 
ities enumerated in paragraph 6, page 115. 

(q) The narrow hoof has already too narrow a base of sup- 
port, and must not be made smaller; therefore, the shoe should 
not have a base-narrow but a perpendicular outer border, as 
described in paragraph 7, page 115. 


122 HORSESHOEING. 


Shoeing Saddlers and Hunters. 


The shoes for saddlers (Park Hacks) should be light, short, 
and fitted snug to prevent forging, interfering and pulling of 
the shoes. The hoof surface should cover the wall, white line 
and at least one-fourth of an inch of the margin of the sole. 
An average width of one inch is desirable. Both front and 
hind shoes should be fullered and concaved on the ground sur- 
face (convex iron). The Front Shoe:—Length, should not pro- 
ject beyond the buttress more than one-eighth of an inch, Width, 


Fie. 124. 


A right front shoe with forging calks; suitable for a saddle horse, or hunter (convex iron). 


an inch at the middle on the branches, somewhat more at the 
toe, and less at the ends of the branches. Bevelling, outer- 
border, base-narrow all around. The ends of the branches, and 
the heel calks, in case they are used, are bevelled strongly down- 
ward and forward under the foot. The toe is rolled from the 
inner edge of the web, and provided with a strong central clip. 
Six nails are sufficient (see Fig. 124). 

The Hind Shoe:—Length, the shoe may project from one- 
fourth to three-eighths of an inch behind the buttresses. The 


HORSESHOEING. 123 


toe should be well rounded and somewhat blunt so that the 
horn of the toe will project beyond the shoe an amount equal to 
one-half the thickness of the wall. Wzadth, somewhat less than 
the front shoe. The branches are of equal thickness, and should 
carry heel calks whose height equals the thickness of the 
shoe. To guard against interfering the inside calk may be 
omitted and the inner branch thickened, fitted snug and bevelled 
strongly base-narrow. Clips are to be placed at inner and outer 
toes. Seven nails are sufficient. 

The shoes for hunters do not differ materially from those 
suitable for Park Hacks. The hunter’s shoes are somewhat 
lighter, and to guard against injury to the feet by over-reaching 
and interfering, and against the shoes being pulled by. stiff mire 
and by treading, the shoes must represent merely a prolongation 
of the hoofs, 7.e., must be no longer and no wider than the hoofs 
themselves. The front shoe of narrow, convex iron is rolled at 
the toe and has a central toe clip. Forging heel calks are 
advisable. 

The hind shoe is set back at the toe, carries inner and outer 
toe clips, an outer heel calk and an inner interfering branch. 
Seven nails, 


Shoeing Runners. 


Racing plates are intended solely to prevent excessive wear 
and breaking away of the wall, and to insure a secure foothold 
upon the ground. The shoes are made as light as possible, 
but they must not be so narrow and thin that they will bend 
or break. They are therefore made of steel, wide enough to 
cover the bearing surface of the wall, white line, and an eighth 
of an inch of the sole. The ground surface is divided into two 
sharp edges by a deep, clean, fullering continued entirely 
around the shoe. Heel calks are of no advantage. Front and 
hind shoes carry six nails. The last nails are well back in the 
quarters to prevent the spreading or bending of the light shoe. 
Front shoes are provided with central toe-clips; hind shoes 


124 HORSESHOEING. 


carry inner and outer toe clips and are set shghtly under at 
the toe (see Figs. 125, 126, 127, 128). An average weight 
running plate for a medium-sized hoof is three to four ounces, 


INTEL. UPA Hire a26e 


A fore running plate, hoof-surface. A fore running plate, ground-surface. 


Ties PAC Jae. UPASY. 


A hind running plate, hoof-surface. A hind running plate, ground-surface. 


Shoeing Trotters and Pacers. 

The shoes worn while the trotter or pacer is in training are 
somewhat heavier than those worn while racing. Training 
shoes will average 40 ounces to the set, while trotting and 
pacing plates weigh from 16 to 28 ounces to the set. Of the six 


HORSESHOEING. 125 


fastest trotters during the last year (1912) the average weight 
of the front shoes was 6°%; ounces, of the hind shoes 4 ounces. 
Of the seven swiftest pacers of the same year the front shoes 
averaged 514 ounces, and the hind shoes 35¢ ounces. In short, 
extreme speed at running, pacing or trotting demands as light a 
shoe as can be made, which will at the same time furnish a 
bearing for wall, white line and a narrow rim of the sole. 

In style of shoes there is no marked difference between 
trotters and pacers—except in the hind shoes of pacers that 
cross-fire (see cross-firing,” p. 140). Open shoes predominate. 
Bar-shoes are used, not to give frog pressure, but to stiffen and 
prevent spreading of the ‘shoe, when after a few days’ wear 
it becomes thin at the toe. The average trotting and pacing 
plate is so thin that it would be weakened by fullering, so most 
of them are stamped (punched). Six nails are sufficient. Clips 
are seldom needed. 

Pacers usually require a low circular grab or ‘“ rim” at the 
toe. This is set flush with the outer border, is about one-eighth 
of an inch high and is brazed on. Trotting plates are usually 
without toe calks, though many are fullered across the toe (cor- 
rugated) to furnish a grip upon the ground, 

On both trotting and pacing shoes the heel calks should be 
low and sharp and should run straight forward so as not to 
retard the forward glide of the foot as it is set to earth heel 
first. The heel calk serves chiefly to prevent the lateral twist 
of the foot as the horse takes the sharp turns of the track. 

Freak shoes, toe-weights, side-weights, excessive length of 
hoof or toe, and other unscientific appliances and methods of 
shoeing speed horses are being gradually eliminated, and _ to- 
day the fastest are dressed and shod in accordance with the 
principles enunciated in this book. 


Fitting Shoes to Heavy Draft-Horses. 


What has been previously said concerning shoeing holds 
good here; however, the conditions of shoeing are somewhat 
different in heavy horses, and particularly with respect to hoofs 


126 HORSESHOEING. 


which, without being clearly diseased, have been injured by 
shoeing. The entire operation requires more circumspection, 
because it is more difficult. In many cases one will find that 
the width that has been advised for the outer branch of the 
shoe at the quarter is not sufficient. Indeed, if a horse has wry 
feet, and there is unequal distribution of weight within the 
hoof, and we attempt in shoeing it to follow to the letter the 
directions given on preceding pages, we would be apt to favor 
the perpetuation of the defect. In such eases the slant of 
the wall at the quarters is of the great- 
est practical value to us in estimating 
the proper width for the shoe at this 
point. 

When uniform setting down of the 
hoof and uniform wear of the shoe are 
desired, every point in the coronary 
band in the posterior half of the foot 
must receive support by the shoe. This 
applies particularly to the outer halves 
of hoofs that are extremely base-nar- 
row. If, for example, the coronet of 


Fic. 129. 


the outer quarter projects beyond the 
Left hind shoe with a broad, plantar border of the quarter, the outer 
base-wide outer branch for 


draft-horses that stand markedly branch of the shoe from the last 
base-narrow (close behind). a e 
nail-hole back must be kept so wide 
(full) that an imaginary perpendicular line dropped from 
the coronary band will just touch the outer border of 
the shoe. The inner branch, on the contrary, should follow 
the edge of the wall as closely as possible. Furthermore, the 
new shoe should be given more curve,—that is, made wider and 
fitted more full where the old shoe shows greatest wear. The 
principal thought should be to set the shoe, which should always 
be regarded as the base of support of the hoof, farther towards 
the more strongly worn side. Such a practice renders super- 
fluous the wide-spread and popular custom of bending outward 


HORSESHOEING. 127 


the outer quarter and heel-calk of hind shoes. From the manner 
in which a horse travels and the wear of the old shoe, we esti- 
mate the distance that the branches of the shoe should be set 
from the middle line of the hoof. If in following out this plan 
the bearing-surface of the outer quarter of the wall is not com- 
pletely covered, the quarter will be pinched and squeezed in- 
ward ; this should be prevented by a broader branch punched so 
deeply that the holes will fall upon the white line (Fig. 129). 

When the shoer has satisfied himself that the shoe fulfils 
every requirement and fits perfectly, it is to be cooled, the holes 
opened with an oiled pritchel, and the shoe brightened with a 
file. In filing, all sharp edges should be removed. If a shoe 
is to be filed upon the outer border, to give it a neater appear- 
ance, the filing should be done lengthways of the shoe, and not 
crossways ; of course, the shoe must not be bent by being im- 
properly clamped in the vise. 

It indicates much greater skill in making and fitting shoes 
when they look clean and finished with little or no filing, 


In the preceding remarks I have insisted upon a horizontal bear- 
ing-surface for all shoes, with the single exception of shoes provided 
with the rolled toe (rolling motion). As far as I ean judge from the 
literature of shoeing, and from what I have seen with my own eyes in 
many countries, this is the most wide-spread practice. In Germany, 
on the other hand, there is another method, followed in the military 
shoeing-shops, which consists in placing the bearing-surface of the shoe 
as nearly as possible at right angles to the slant of the wall. Accord- 
ing to this method the bearing-surface of the shoe, depending upon 
the direction of the wall (viewed from in front, from behind, and 
from the side), should incline more or less, now backward, now in- 
ward, now horizontal, and now outward. Shoes for wide hoofs are 
given a bearing-surface which inclines inward, while for narrow hoofs 
the shoes have a horizontal bearing-surface. Shoes for wry hoofs 
have a bearing-surface which inclines downward and inward for the 
slanting wall, and for the steeper wall a horizontal bearing-surface, 
which towards the end of the branch may ineline slightly downward 
and outward. Besides, the bearing-surface of the ends of the branches, 
viewed from the side, has a backward and downward inclination. This 
method is practicable only in part. 


128 HORSESHOEING. 


I. Nailing the Shoe. 


This is that act of horseshoeing by which the shoe is fastened 
to the hoof by special nails called hoof-nails or horseshoe-nails, 
which are driven through the shoe and horny wall. 

At present there are hand-made and machine-made horse- 
shoe-nails. Both kinds should be made of the best wrought 
iron. The nails must be slender, wedge-shaped, and twice as 
wide as they are thick. Thickness and length must be in proper 
relation to each other. We should never choose a nail which 
is longer than is absolutely necessary to 
hold the shoe; six to eight sizes are sufh- 
cient for all purposes. 

The rough nails (hand-made), before 


1mites, il6{0)- 


being used, must undergo a special shaping 
to prepare them to pass through the wall 
easily and in the desired direction, This 
preparation is called shaping and bevelling. 
In doing this we should see to it that the 


nails are made smooth, and even, but are not 
hammered harder than is absolutely neces- 
sary, because the lighter one can hammer 
the nails the better they will be. 
Furthermore, we must give the nail that 


Hand-made horseshoe. form which will insure its passing through 
Pe eae uE Sealine the horn straight and not in a curve; with 
this object in view, the nail is to be slightly 

curved so that the side which is turned towards the frog in 
driving (inside) will be a little coneave, the opposite side 
convex (Figs. 130, 3, and 131, No. 10), since it is known that 
a straight nail always passes through the horn in a curve, and 
not only does not long remain tight, but is quite likely to press 
upon and injure the soft tissues of the foot. (See, also, Nailing.) 
At the point of the nail the bevel is to be so placed that it 
will form a short one-sided wedge with the slanting side 


HORSESHOEING. 129 


directed from within to without (Figs. 130, 3, and 131, d). 
A short bevel is suitable for nails that are to be driven low, 
while a long bevel makes it possible to drive them high. The 
bevel should never form a hook; wt must always be straight, 
should be sharp but not thin, and under no conditions incom- 
plete (defective). 

Fie. 131. 


Machine-made horseshoe-nails (natural size) with a low, wide head for a fullered shoe. 
The last nail is shown from one border; the others from the inner face: a, head; b, neck; 
c, shank; d, bevel; e, point; f, inner face; g, outer face. 


Machine-made nails, smooth, polished, bevelled, and ready 
for use, are, for many reasons, to be preferred to hand-made 
nails, though the latter are rather tougher (see Fig. 151). 

Before the shoe is nailed on it should be cooled and again 
carefully examined by a competent shoer, who should then 
place it upon the hoof, where it should be critically observed to 
see whether it really fulfils every requirement of a properly- 

9 


130 


HORSESHOEING. 


fitting shoe. Afterwards, the least fault or defect must be 
remedied, and then the work of nailing it begins. By nailing, 
the shoe is firmly and durably fastened to the hoof, in doing 
which the horn of the wall is spared so far as possible, the 


BrGaelo2s 


Driving hammer. 


elasticity of the hoof borne always in 
mind, and wounding of the pododerm 
entirely avoided. The nails must in all 
cases penetrate the white line and pass 
through the wall in such a straight 
direction that they will appear neither 
too high nor too low upon its outer sur- 
face. In the first case there is con- 
siderable danger of pricking or close- 
nailing, and in the latter the nail-holes 
will tear out easily when the nails are 
being clinched. 

In driving a nail, it should be held 
in the fingers as long as possible in the 
direction in which it is desired that it 
shall pass through the horn. A nail 
should be driven cautiously, with atten- 
tion to its stinking and sound, and yet 
with enough force so that at each stroke 
it will penetrate from one-fifth to one- 
fourth of an inch. The power required 
at each stroke will depend upon the 
hardness of the horn and the size of the 
nail. Fearless driving and _ timorous 
tapping should not be allowed. 

Nails, which at a depth of five 
eighths of an inch are still going soft, or 


which bend and give a dull sound, or cause pain, should be 
immediately withdrawn. 

According to the size of the horse and his hoofs the nails 
should be driven from five-eighths to an inch and five-eighths 


HORSESHOEING. 131 


high, and as even as possible. As soon as a nail is driven its 
point should be immediately bent down towards the shoe in 
order to prevent injuries. The heads of all the nails should 
then be gone over with a hammer and driven down solidly into 
the nail-holes, the hoof being meanwhile supported in the left 
hand. Pincers are then held under the bent nails and they are 
more sharply bent by light blows upon the nail-heads. The 
points of the nails are now nipped off near the hoof, the horn 
which has been thrown out just below the clinches by bending 
the nails down is removed with rasp or gouge, and the ends of 
the nails bent down still more, but not quite flush with the 
wall. This operation is called “clinching.” <A  clinching- 
block or a pair of ordinary blacksmith’s pincers is then placed 
under the end of the nail, now called a clinch, and by light 
blows (in doing this the nail must not bend within the wall) 
upon the head the clinch is turned closer to the surface of the 
wall; finally, with the front edge of the nail-hammer the clinch 
is hammered down flush with the wall. On the inner half of 
the wall the clinches should not be felt on stroking the wall 
with the fingers. The small amount of horn that projects 
beyond the shoe around the toe may be carefully rasped away 
in the direction in which the wall slants, but never higher than 
the clinches; finally, the sharp lower edge of the wall is to be 
removed by carrying the corner of the rasp around between 
the shoe and the horn. 

A clinch is sufficiently long when it equals the width of 
the nail at that point. 

It is of advantage to use a shoeing-bock or foot-stool in 
clinching the nails on the front hoofs. The hind hoofs may be 
clinched in the hands. Then the horse should be led out and 
again moved in order to see whether or not the new shoeing has 
actually accomplished what was desired. Finally, the entire 
hoof should be given a thin layer of hoof-salve. 


132 HORSESHOEING. 


K. Horseshoes More or Less Deficient in the Desirable 
Qualities Described on Pages 107-116. 


Machine Shoes. 


1. Machine Shoes of Wrought Iron.—They are half-finished 
and finished. Though machine shoes with few exceptions show 
no distinction between front and hind, or left and right, with 
correct punching for these different feet, but usually present 
one form in different sizes, yet, unfortunately, they are in 
high favor with horseshoers, because they may be used for 
both summer and winter and for bar shoes. 


Jane, Uses Fig. 134. 


A machine-made (drop-forged) front shoe, A machine-made toe-weight front shoe 
ground surface. for a harness horse, showing ground 
surface. Punching good. 


For these reasons we cannot approve of machine shoes. 

2. Finished Cast Shoes.—They are of four kinds,— 
ordinary cast shoes, cast shoes with rope buffer, cast shoes with 
fiber buffer, and cast shoes fenestrated to hold a rubber buffer. 
Ordinary cast shoes of correct form and proper punching 
designed by Grossbauer, of Vienna, are sold by Hannes’ Sons, 
of that city. 


HORSESHOEING. 133 


Rope Shoes.—These shoes have a groove on the ground sur- 
face, in which rests a tarred rope, which greatly diminishes 
slipping on smooth pavement. For this reason alone they are 


Eire. 135: Jane, Uso, BaGe love 


Machine-made (drop-forged) multi-calk fore shoe. A, ground-surface; B, hoof-surface 
C, profile. 


line, sites Fie. 139. Fic. 140. 


Machine-made (drop forged) multi-calk hind shoe. A, ground-surface; B, hoof-surface; 
C, profile. 


extensively used in the large cities of Germany. Since the open 
rope shoe, when half worn out, will warp, the bar rope shoe is 
more satisfactory and more extensively used (Figs. 141-144), 


134 HORSESHOEING. 


Before fitting the shoe the rope must be removed. After 
the nails are driven it is laid in the groove and hammered into 


Fig. 141. : Pep re. 143% 


Bar rope shoe with bar The same with bar The same with beak- 
bent forward. bent backward. formed bar. 


place. Rope shoes can seldom be fitted properly to hoofs other 
than those which are healthy and of regular shape. 
Fiber Shoes.—These have a groove 
Big) 14s. on the ground surface into which layers 
of linen fiber belting have been tightly 
pressed. The fiber cannot be removed, 
and therefore the shoes cannot be heated, 
but must be fitted cold. The nail-holes 
are placed between the fiber and the 
outer border of the shoe, and are punched 
too light. The bearing surface of the 
shoe is unsupported, so that when the 


shoe is half worn out, it warps. There 


An open rope shoe. 


is no distinction between rights and lefts. 

Rubber shoes have all the defects of fiber shoes, and one 

more. ‘The hoof surface is covered with canvas, which under 

normal and acute-angled hoofs wears through under the quarters 
and leads to loosening of the last nails. 


HORSESHOEING. 135 


L. Rubber Pads. 


The increasing use of asphalt, tarvia and other hard, smooth 
and slippery materials for surfacing city streets and country 
highways has not only made travelling in flat and even in 
ealked ‘shoes precarious, but has aggravated all those injuries 
produced by concussion. 

To prevent slipping and the injurious effects of concussion 
a great many shoes have been devised, in which are incor- 
porated such materials 
as hemp rope, linen fibre, 
papier maché, cork, wood, 
bast, felt and rubber, but 
all fail in greater or les- 
ser degree to meet prac- 


Fic. 145. 


tical requirements. 
Itubber, though the 
most expensive of these 
materials, is the most 
resilient and takes the 
best grip on smooth pave- 
ment. <A pad of rubber, 
wide enough to cover the 


branches of the frog A light driving pad, gummed and stitched to a 


alone, or the branches of leather sole; seen from the ground surface and in pro- 
file. Used with a seven- to ten-ounce short shoe. a, 


the frog and the but- stitching; 6, rubber bar under buttress and frog; c, 
2) leather sole. 
tresses of the hoof, firmly 


cemented to a leather sole, constitutes the modern rubber pad 
(Figs. 145, 146, 147). 

The frog-and-buttress pad used with a short shoe is to be 
preferred to the earlier aes ad which takes a full shoe. 

The advantages of rubber pads are: 

1. They prevent slipping upon asphalt and other smooth, 
dry surfaces. 

2. They diminish concussion, and are valuable in the 


136 HORSESHOEING. 


prevention and treatment of sore heels, dry and moist corns, 
bruised sole, and incipient side bone. 

3. They give frog pressure, develop the frog and tend to 
prevent contraction of the quarters and those lesions which 
may follow contraction, as corns, cracks of bars and quarters, 
laminitis of the quarters and thrush. 

A rubber pad should not be used: 

1. In contraction of one or both quarters, when the frog is 
too much shrunken to bear upon the pad. 


Fic. 147. 


Air-cushion pad, seen from ground surface A heavy bar-pad suitable for heavy har- 
and in profile. Suitable for light harness ness and draft-horses on pavement. The 
horses. short shoe may carry a toe-calk of medium 

height. 


2. In lameness from well developed side bones. 

3. In navicular bursitis (‘‘ navicular disease ”’). 

4, In thrush, or canker of frog or sole. 

Rubber pads, light, medium and heavy, are made in all 
sizes and are suitable for all classes of horses, from the light 
roadster to the heavy draft type. The short shoe with which 
they are used reaches the middle of the quarters. The pad 
surface (upper surface) of the ends of the branches should be 
bevelled to conform to the pad, and to hold it firmly against 


HORSESHOEING. 137 


the frog and buttresses. The thickness of the shoe should 
equal two-thirds the thickness of the pad, so that when fitted 
one-third of the thickness of the pad shall project below the 
eround-surface of the shoe. The shoe should be provided with 
a strong toe-clip. With the heavy, thick pad of a draft-horse a 
low toe-calk may be used, but heel calks should never be put 
on a short shoe. Pads are seldom necessary on the hind feet. 


CHAPTER IN. 
SHOEING HORSES THAT FORGE AND INTERFERE. 


A. Forging. 

Foreine is that defect of the horse’s gait by reason of 
which, at a trot, he strikes the ends. of the branches or the 
under surface of the front shoe with the toe of the hind shoe 
or hoof of the same side. Forging in a pacer is termed “ cross- 
firing’ and consists in striking the inner quarter, or the under 
surface of the inner branch of a front shoe with the toe of the 
diagonal hind shoe or hoof. 

Forging is unpleasant to hear and dangerous to the horse. 
It is lable to wound the heels 
of the forefeet, damages the toes 
or the coronet of the hind 
hoofs, and often pulls off the 
front shoes. 


Fic. 148. 


Fic. 149. 


[ 


Right front shoe with concave ground- Right hind shoe with lateral toe-clips to pre- 
surface (‘‘convex iron’’) to prevent vent ‘‘clicking’’ and the various injuries due 
“forging.” to forging. 


Causes.—1. Faulty conformation; for example, horses that 
stand considerably higher at the croup than at the withers; 
horses with long legs and short bodies; horses that ‘stand 
under ” in front and behind. 2. U'sing horses on heavy ground, 
unskilful driving, allowing a long-necked, heavy-headed horse 

138 


HORSESHOEING. 139 


to carry his head too low; riding without holding a horse to 
his work by feeling his mouth and pressing the knees against 
his sides. 3. Fatigue frequently leads to forging, even in horses 
that are well built and properly shod. It may also occur in the 
act of vaulting over an obstacle. 4. Poor shoeing, especially 
too long toes upon the front and hind hoofs, and too long front 
shoes. 

The aim of the shoer should be to facilitate the quick and 
easy ‘breaking over” of the front foot, so that it may get 
away before it is overtaken by the hind foot. The toe of the 
front hoof should be fairly short and rolled; the quarters spared. 
The front shoe should be hght, rolled at the toe andno longer 
and no wider than the hoof. The ends of the branches of a 
flat shoe, and also the heel-calks, in case they are needed to 
elevate a heel that is too low, should be bevelled from the hoof 
surface of the shoe downward and forward under the foot. 
Such short heel-calks, bevelled to prevent forging, are called 
“ forging calks.” If the horse continues to forge between the 
branches and against the ground surface of the shoe, concaving 
this surface will prove advantageous (convex iron). The form 
of the front shoes of horses that forge should represent merely 
a prolongation of the hoof. 

The “ breaking over” of the hind foot should be delayed 
by sparing the toe and lowering the quarters, but not sufficiently 
to break the foot-axis too far backward. The hind shoe is to 
be squared at the toe and the lower edge of the shoe in the 
region of the toe well rounded; instead of a toe-clip, two side- 
clips are to be drawn up and the shoe so fitted that at least 
three-fourths of the thickness of the wall of the toe, with the 
edge well rounded, will extend forward beyond the shoe. Should 
the toe of the hoof be short it may be raised either by a low toe- 
ealk set one-fourth of an inch back from the edge of the shoe, or 
by thinning the shoe from the toe to the ends of the branches. 
The branches of a flat hind shoe should extend somewhat 
farther back of the buttresses than under normal conditions, 


140 HORSESHOEING. 


to trail upon the ground just before the hoof alights, and acting 
as a brake, to bring the hoof to earth (Fig. 150). 

“ Cross-firing ”’ is most apt to occur and is most dangerous 
at extreme speed. Then, when the inner branch of the hind 
shoe strikes the inner heel, quarter or shoe of the diagonal 
front foot, both feet are in the air,—the fore foot is approach- 
ing the middle of its stride, while the offending hind foot is 
in the last third of its flight. The standing position that favors 
eross-firing is the base-wide (toe-wide) in front, and the base- 
narrow (toe-narrow) behind. With this direction of limbs the 

flight of the fore feet is 


Fre. 150. forward and inward during 
fin, the first half of their stride, 
hi 


while the flight of the hind 
feet is forward and inward 
during the second half of 
their stride (see Figs. 72, 


oF 
T3n 15): 


iY 


Yy Y My) 
y/ Pty } 


Keo wis The problem is, there- 
“f di —tinimae-a fore, so to pare and shoe a 


Hind shoe with swelled toe to slow the breaking base-wide fore foot that It 


over. Often efficient when the hoof is too short at wl] break over nearer the 
the toe: a, long branches to trail and bring the 


foot to earth; b, outer-toe clip; c, toe squared and centre of the toe and thus 
set under to prevent injury to front hoof, and to ‘ 
deaden the sound of forging. execute less of an inward 
swing during the first half 
of its stride, and to so pare and shoe a base-narrow hind 
foot that it will break over nearer the centre of the toe and 
thus execute less of an inward swing during the second half of 
its stride. Neither a toe-wide nor a toe-narrow foot can be 
made to break over the exact centre of the toe, and yet it is 
possible by dressing the hoof and by shoeing to shift the break- 
ing over point nearer to the centre of the toe, and by doing so, 
to alter slightly the lines of flight of the feet. 
Dressing and shoeing the front foot: The hoof should be 


relatively low from the middle of the toe around to and in- 


HORSESHOEING. 141 


eluding the outer buttress. If the inner half of the wall is 
deficient in length it must be raised above the outer half by 
applying a shoe which is thinner in its outer than in its inner 
branch. The inner toe should be left long. 

The shoe should be lght, without heel-calks, but may 
earry a low, curved grab (“ grab,” is a low, straight or curved, 


Fig. 151. 


RiGee 


Front view of hoof and shoe depicted in 


Left hind hoof of a toe-narrow pacer, shod 


to prevent crossfiring: a, dotted line indi- Fig. 151: a, outer branch fitted very full 


cating outer border of the hoof; b, long bent 
outer branch; c, short, thin inner branch; d, 
inner wall extending beyond the shoe; f, 
line from which inner branch is feather- 
edged. The shoe is of even thickness from 
b to f at inner toe; but from latter point to c 
diminishes to a feather edge. 


and bevelled base wide; 6b, inner branch 
diminishing in thickness from inner toe ec, 
to its termination at the inner quarter. 
Designed to favor ‘‘breaking over’’ near 
centre of the toe, and to widen the gait. 


toe- or heel-calk on a racing plate) running from the second 
inner toe nail to the centre of the toe. The inner branch is to 
be fitted flush with the wall from the centre of the toe back 
to the quarter, back of which point it gradually extends beyond 
the wall, z.e., is fitted full; and terminates well back of the 
buttress. This inner branch should be from one-fourth to three- 
eighths of an inch longer than the outer branch. The long 


142 HORSESHOEING. 


imner branch, full at the quarter, is desirable, but must be 
covered by a quarter-boct, which a cross-firer should always wear. 

The outer branch should be fitted snug and terminate at 
the buttress. From the centre of the toe to the end of the 
branch the ground surface should be bevelled from the inner 
edge of the web to a knife-edge at the outer border. 

Dressing and shoeing the hind foot: The hoof should be 
relatively low from the centre of the toe around to and in- 
cluding the iner buttress. If the outer half of the hoof is 
deficient in length, it must be raised above the inner half by 
applying a shoe with a thin inner branch. The inner branch 
may terminate in a knife-edge midway between toe and heel 
(Figs. 151 and 152): 

The inner branch is to be fitted snug from the centre of 
the toe to its end, and its ground surface should be bevelled 
from the inner edge of the web to a knife-edge at the outer 
border. 

The outer branch is to be fitted very full from the outside 
toe to the end. This branch should extend well behind the 
buttress, and in well-marked base-narrow hoofs should be turned 
outward in order to support the overhanging coronet of the 
quarter. The outer border should be bevelled base-wide, and 
the nail holes punched coarse, 7.e., far in from the outer border 
(Figs. 151 and 152). The outer branch may earry a small 
heel-ealk. 


B. Interfering. 


A horse “ interferes”? when a hoof in motion strikes the 
opposite ‘supporting leg. Interfering is apt to produce in- 
juries, either of the coronary band of the inner half of the 
foot or of the fetlock-joint, or (in fore-limbs) of the cannon, 
even as high up as the knee. Lameness frequently accompanies 
such injuries. 

The causes of interfering lie either in the shoeing (of the 


HORSESHOEING. 143 


foot that strikes, as well as of the foot which is struck), in 
the position of the limbs, or in the use of the animal. Horses 
that have the correct standing position do not interfere when 
they are properly shod; base-wide horses interfere sometimes ; 
horses base-narrow down to the fetlock and toe-wide below that 
point interfere very frequently. Traces of unequal length, 
weariness, and shoeing at too long intervals favor interfering. 

In attempting to lessen or remove interfering, the horse 
must be most carefully examined with respect to the position 
of his limbs, his gait, and his 
shoeing, in the manner de- 
scribed on pages 90 to 92. 

If the cause is found to be 
the twisted position of a shoe, 
too wide hoofs, raised clinches, 
etc., nothing need be done fur- 
ther than to correct the shoeing; 
but if a faulty position of the 
limbs is the cause, we must 
ascertain the exact part of the 
hoof that does the striking, 
diminish the size of the hoof 
at that point, regulate the en- 
tire plantar surface of the hoof, ,,4 764 front shee with nals, and 
make the shoe straight along: Suitable for horses that strike anywhere 

5 © from inner toe back to the quarter. 
the region that strikes,—that is, 
without curve,—and so fit it to the foot that one-third of the 
thickness of the wall will extend beyond the shoe. Where in- 
terfering is so pronounced as to produce serious injuries, we 
use a shoe with no nails in the inner branch (‘‘ dropped-crease ” 
shoe) (Figs. 153, 156, 157). 

The so-called interfering shoes (Figs. 154 and 155) are 
worthy of recommendation only for hoofs of the base-narrow 
position. The interfering branch, whose greater thickness 
raises the inner wall, which is often too low, is to be so shaped 


Idive, G33} 


144 HORSESHOEING. 


and directed that the hoof will project somewhat beyond it. 
This interfering branch must be made and shaped in accord- 
ance with each individual case. The holes in the interfering 


Fig. 154. Fie. 155. 


Left hind shoe with interfering branch The same (hoof-surface). 
(ground surface), for base-narrow stand- 
ing position. 


Left hind interfering shoe without aail- Right hind shoe for toe-cutters. The 
holes in inner branch (‘‘dropped-crease” dotted lines indicate the distance that the 
shoe): a, side-clip. wall projects beyond the shoe: a, side-clip. 


branch should be punched somewhat finer (nearer the edge) 
than usual. Interfering shoes in which the nail-holes, with 
the exception of the inner toe nail-hole, are placed in the outer 


HORSESHOEING. 145 


branch, are called “ dropped-crease interfering shoes” (Fig. 
156). Such shoes are not recommended for hind hoofs that 
are decidedly toe-wide (toe-cutters) ; in such cases better results 
will be obtained by using a shoe, either with or without heel- 
ealks, whose inner branch is straight and without nails along 
the striking region, and is fitted wide (full) at the quarter. 
The inner branch should be from one-fourth to three-eighths 
of an inch longer than the outer. The inner heel-calk should 
be higher than the outer, and the end of the outer branch 
should be as base-narrow as it can be made (fitted close) (Fig. 
157). In order to prevent shifting of an interfering shoe, a 
side-clip should be drawn up on the outer branch (a). 

There is no manner of shoeing that will prevent interfering 
which is caused by improper harnessing, crooked hitching, or 
weariness. The simpler and the lighter the shoes the less will 
horses interfere. 


10 


CHAPTER V. 
WINTER SHOEING, 


At shoes whose ground-surface is provided with contriv- 
ances to prevent slipping upon snow and ice are called winter 
shoes. 

These various contrivances are produced by several proc- 
esses called “‘ methods of sharpening.” All methods may be 
gathered into two groups,—namelv, practical sharp-shoeing 
and impractical. Only the first will be considered. 

The durability of sharpened shoes depends 
partly upon whether they are made of steel or 
iron, and partly upon the nature of the ground 
in winter. If the ground is continuously covered 
with a thick layer of snow, whatever method of 
sharpening is followed, the shoes stay sharp; if, 
however, the winter is open, changeable, with 
more bare ice than snow, no method of sharpening, 
whatever it may be, will last long; the shoes will 
not stay sharp. 

For these reasons no method of sharpening 
which fulfils all conditions satisfactorily has yet 
been discovered. 

The simplest and at the same time the least 
durable method of sharpening is: 1. That by 
means of ice-nails or frost-nails (Fig. 158). One or two nails 
are drawn from each branch of the shoe and replaced with ice- 
nails. 

2. Sharp Toe- and Heel-Calks——The outer calk is split 
and a smal] steel wedge welded in. It is then laid upon the 
edge of the anvil, indented and sharpened from within to 
without in such a manner that the calk shall be thin from 

146 


Fie. 158. 


An ice-nail, frost- 
nail. 


HORSESHOEING. 147 


the branch to the ground, and the outer surface shall be in the 
same vertical plane as the outer edge. If a ealk is narrow 
from its base to its end, and at the yq 459. Fie. 160. 
same time without flaw, it does not 
need a sharp cutting edge. The 
inner calk should never be sharp- 
ened except the ground be very 
slippery. The cutting edge of 
this inner calk stands at right angles | 
to the length of the branch, and its Outer and inner heel-calks sharp- 
outer corner should then be rounded aoe 
to prevent its injuring the opposite foot (Figs. 159, 160). 
For horses used for heavy draft purposes a toe-calk is 
welded to the shoe and sharpened. For this purpose we use 
only steel (toe-steel), 
whichiseasily 
welded to the shoe 


SS 


and remains firm. 
Toe-calks and steeled 
heel-ealks are’ tem- 
pered, in order, as 
much as possible, to 
lengthen their period 
of durability. This 
method of sharpen- 


‘ ing is the oldest and 


it @ most wide - spread, 
l ° 
al and is employed on 


the shoes of all horses 
Left fore hoof sharp shod: a, toe-calk bevelled from in 6 : 
front; b, outer heel-calk directed lengthwise with the branch; of which we require 
c, inner heel-calk, half sharp and directed transversely to 2 : Os . 
direction of the branch. more than light ser- 
Vice. 


Hoofs are easily damaged or even ruined by frequently 
repeated sharpening of the shoes, because every time this is 
done the shoes must be removed and replaced. 


148 HORSESHOEING. 


3. Shoeing with Screw Heel-Calks.—Any ordinary flat 
shoe not too thin and narrow at the ends of the branches can 
be changed to a shoe with screw heel-calks by punching holes 
in the ends of the branches and cutting a thread in them. 

The screw heel-calk holes are made either by punching or 
boring. The punching is done by means of an almost cylindrical 
hammer-punch, afterwards finishing the holes by driving 
through them a round punch which tapers from the middle 
towards both ends. On the ground-surface of 
the shoe the hole is moderately counter-sunk 
(Fig. 162, a), so that after the thread has 
been eut and the calk serewed into place the 
shoulder of the latter will rest on the counter- 
sinking. 

At present nearly all serew-calks are made 
by machinery, either of iron or toe-steel. The 
former is too soft and therefore not sufficiently 
durable; the latter, however, is quite durable 
when the calk is properly hardened (tempered) 
by heating to a cherry-red, sticking the head of 
the calk as far as the tap into a bed of moist 
sand, and allowing it to slowly cool. 

Ground-surface of The chief requirements of a good screw- 


the end of a branch 
of shoe, showing calk are, further, a clean, deep, but not too 


eae Dee coarse thread, and but one size of thread and 
eRe aa aa tap for all calks, so that every calk will fit in 

every shoe. A calk whose tap measures one- 
half inch (12.7 millimetres) (Whitworth) in diameter is suffi- 
cient for the heaviest shoes. The tap which is used to cut the 
thread in the holes for the serew-calks must be about =+, of an 
inch thicker than the head of the calk. In the German army 
the calks have a tap fifteen thirty-seconds of an inch in diameter. 
The coachman should be given four calks (sharp and blunt) 
for each shoe, and a small screw-calk key for placing and remov- 
ing them. Screw toe-calks are also used, yet they require 


HORSESHOEING. 149 


special security to prevent their becoming loose. Experimenta- 
tion with the screw toe-calks, though not yet entirely satisfactory, 
cannot be said to have ended. 

The advantages of shoes provided with good screw heel- 
calks are so manifold that they deserve marked preference 
over shoes sharpened by the ordinary methods. 
The common objections urged against screw- 
calks,—namely, that they loosen and are lost, 
or break off, are not worthy of serious con- 
sideration, since these evils are merely the re- 


Fie. 164. 


AUUNUAN 


sult of unskilful workmanship and poor ma- 


mM 


Fic. 163. 


TINNTUUICL 


SOE 5 


Sharp screw-calks with Whitworth thread Whitworth tap (half-inch, 
(half-inch, natural size). half natural size). 


terial. Shoes with screw heel-calks are the best shoes for winter, 
especially for horses that have to work hard and continuously. 

Balling with snow is prevented by using shoes narrow in 
the web and concave upon the ground-surface (convex iron), 
and thoroughly oiling the sole and frog. Sole-pads of felt, 
leather, or straw serve the same purpose. Balling with snow 
is best prevented by a rubber sole-and-frog pad, or by a “ stop- 


ping” of a patent hoof cement known in Germany as “huf- 
lederkitt.” 


150 HORSESHOEING. 


4. Shoeing with Peg-Calks.—The calks are merely stuck 
into the calk-holes, hence their name. Round and square peg- 
calks are used, but the former are better than the latter, 


The inventor of round peg-calks is Judson, an American. The 
shoes differ in no respect from the ordinary flat shoes. It is necessary 
that the tap of the calk have a moderately conical form, and exactly 
fit into the calk-hole of the shoe. The taper of the ecalk-tap is correct 
if for every ten thirty-seconds of an inch in length it increases or 
diminishes one-thirty-second of an inch in diameter (equal to one inch 
in every ten inches of length). 

Although the ecalk-holes may be punched in a hot shoe, yet boring 
and reaming them is much better, because by this method a more per- 

fect fit ean be secured. For this 
Fic. 165. Fic. 166. Fic. 167. purpose we require a drill (a 
— spiral drill is the best) whose 
diameter is exactly the same as 
that of the small end of the 
ealk-tap (Figs. 165, c, and 166, 
c). After the shoe has been 
fitted to the hoof, the pro- 
visional holes are drilled and 
afterwards reamed out from the 
eround-surface of the shoe with 
the reamer shown in Fig. 167. 
Since the tap of the reamer 
corresponds exactly in size to 


here ae art pee: tones part of the tap of the ealk, it is evident 
calk (cog): a, calk: a, the the reamer. Z 

Ga Ge RB) AD? aby, the that the latter must exactly fit 
the head. head and be tight. The wire edge 


that is raised around the hole is 
removed with a file, and the edge then smoothed by introducing the 
reamer a second time. The calks are made of rolled round steel, which 
has the thickness of the tap-end of the ealk. For this purpose we 
require a calk-mould or matrix, in which one or more holes have been 
finished with a reamer. A piece of rod steel is heated at the end for 
a distance nearly twice the length of the ealk, is swaged, thrust into 
the matrix, then broken off, and backset. This will give a blunt peg- 
ealk. If a sharp ealk is desired, the upper part of the head of the calk 
is sharpened in the ordinary manner, although this is accomplished 
most easily by using a pair of tongs with short jaws that are hollowed 
upon the inside for seizing the tap of the calk. 


HORSESHOEING. 151 


Before the shoes are nailed on, the normal punch should be oiled 
and driven into the ecalk-holes, and the ealks passed into the holes to 
see that they fit perfectly. 

The calks are driven into place after the shoes are nailed to the 
hoofs. A light blow is sufficient to fasten a calk, yet a necessary 
precaution is first to remove every trace of oil from the ealks and calk- 
holes. The first ealk driven into place must be held with the hand 
while the second is being driven, otherwise it will either spring from 
the calk-hole or be loosened so that it will soon afterwards be lost. 

To remove such a ealk we strike its head from different sides with 
a hammer, stone, or other hard object until it becomes loose, when a 
rather hard blow upon the shoe causes it to spring out. Calks which 
have worn down are seized by a pair of sharp nippers and loosened by 
blows upon the shoe. Since a ealk which is firm soon rusts and is then 
very difficult to remove, it is recommended that all calks be removed 
every night. 

The advantages of peg-calks over serew-ealks are: 1. They do not 
break off. 2. They are easier to make and simpler to use. 3. They 
are cheaper. 

Disadvantages.—1. Peg-calks are sometimes lost, even when 
properly made and most earefully introduced. This evil happens 
much less frequently when the calks are put in by the maker (horse- 
shoer) than when they are stuck in by the coachman, attendant, rider, 
or other person. When ealks are lost on the way from the shop, it is 
usually due to some fault in the ealk-holes or in the ealks, although 
when the feet are balled with snow the ecalks are easily lost, because 
they do not then touch the ground. 

2. The removal of the ecalks often involves many difficulties, since 
they are apt to rust into place if not removed daily, and when worn 
down so far that they eannot be grasped with the pincers are almost 
impossible to remove. By hammering upon the calks and shoe many 
horses are rendered not only restive, but sensitive in the feet. 

3. If horses are used without the ealks, a wire-edge forms around 
the hole on the bottom of the shoe, which interferes with the placing 
of the calk and lessens its security. 


The hollow peg-calk (Fig. 168), made by Branscheid & 
Philippi, of Remscheid, has considerable merit. It holds ex- 
eeedingly well, and is very durable. It is furnished in three 
sizes,—Nos. 12, 13, and 14,—of twenty-seven, thirty-one, and 
thirty-four millimetres length, and twelve, thirteen, and four- 
teen millimetres diameter at the end of the tap. 


152 HORSESHOEING. 


A punch is furnished which, when driven up to its head in 
the holes of the heated shoe, insures a proper width and shape 
of the hole and an accurately fitting calk. 

The calks may be removed by an extractor (Fig. 169) 
having at one end a thread which is screwed into a correspond- 
ing thread on the inside of the hollow calk, when by a few 
hammer blows on the shoe the ealk loosens. To prevent the 
ealk becoming choked with dirt, a piece of cork is thrust into 
the hollow. It may be easily removed by means of the cork- 
screw at the other end of the extractor. 

5. Shoeing with Peg Toe-Calks.—These are an invention 
of considerable worth, especially for heavy draft in hilly 

country. They render better service on 


Fic. 168. 


hind than on front shoes. 
Peg toe-calks with a single tap are 
simpler and preferable to those with two 


Fic. 169. 


Hollow-spring peg-calk, Peg-puller. 

No. 12 
taps. Every known contrivance to prevent the occasional loss 
of the peg toe-calk is impractical. 

The shoe for a peg toe-calk should be of good tough ma- 
terial and without a flaw. The toe of the shoe should be about 
one-twelfth to one-tenth of an inch thicker than the branches. 

The hole for the peg toe-calk, whatsoever its shape may be, 
must be smooth and uniform, with clean, true corners. Semi- 
circular holes should present the convex side towards the toe. 

Before punching, draw up the toe-clip. A punch-plate with 
a good-sized hole, and a tap which will fit into the square hole 
in the anvil will facilitate the work. The punch-plate when 


HORSESHOEING. 153 


in position should be flush with the front edge of the anvil. 
Place the toe of the shoe, hoof surface upward, over the hole 
of the punch-plate, and drive a hole with a punch-hammer 
which is perceptibly thinner than the model punch. Now turn 
the shoe over, punch back from the ground surface, and then 
file away the wire edge which the punch has raised on the 
ground surface. Next, take a hand-punch, the end of which 
should just enter the hole, punch through from the ground 
surface, and correct any bulging by dressing lightly over the 
horn of the anvil. Finally, use the model punch to give the 
hole the exact size and smoothness. 

Should the hole in the toe of the shoe enlarge in time, as 
sometimes occurs, then backset when necessary on removing the 
shoe. Backsetting is easiest with the half-round hole, because 


Fic. 170. 


peer Cac oo 


Cross-section of different forms of peg toe-calk taps. 


the curved side, being turned forward, runs approximately 
parallel to the outer border of the toe of the shoe. 

A good serviceable peg toe-calk must possess the following 
characteristics : 

1. The tap must be of such shape as not to turn; there- 
fore, not round. 

2. The tap must be cone-shaped, and diminish in diameter 
about one-thirty-second of an inch for each one-fourth of an 
inch of its length from base to apex. If the tap has less taper 
it will enlarge the hole in the shoe till the head of the calk 
comes into contact with the shoe, when the ealk will loosen and 
drop out. 

3. The tap must be full-formed and smooth. 

4. It must fit air-tight in the toe, and a single hammer- 
blow should be sufficient to fix it securely. 


154 HORSESHOEING. 


5. The head of the toe-calk must not rest on the shoe; 
a space of one-sixteenth of an inch should intervene. 

While a shoer of average mechanical ability can make a 
faultless peg toe-calk, it is not profitable to do so while good 
machine-made calks are to be had very cheap. 


lane, algal, 1M, IZA 


Chisel toe-calk. (Doring.) No. 1 from Shovel toe-calk. 
the firm of Branscheid & Philippi, of Rem- 
scheid. 


Fre. 173. 


Fie. 174: 


Peg toe-calk shoeing after Fisher-Renker, Peg-calk (shovel-calk) after Kunze-Klotzs- 
of Dresden. che-K6nigswald, of Dresden. 


The best forms in use are the quadrangular heads, with 
oval, half-round (Figs. 171 and 172), and with two taps (Figs. 
173 and 174). 

In several European countries the peg toe-calks with half- 
round tap and with two round taps are in use. To make good 
peg toe-calk shoes and fit the calks properly requires more 
than ordinary knowledge and skill. Poor work does much 
harm. Therefore, work carefully and get well paid for it. 

6. Removable Heel-Calks that do not Require Sharpening. 
—The undeniable fact that all chisel-shaped or pyramid-shaped 


HORSESHOEING. 155 


sharp calks become dull in time, and must then either be 
sharpened or replaced by new calks, renders shoeing not only 
costly, but injurious to the hoofs and annoying to the owner. 
This drawback is most pronounced in large cities, where the 
snow never lies long upon the streets, and the horse just sharp- 
shod is soon obliged to travel upon bare pavements. Attempts 
have been made to lessen this annoyance by the use of calks 
that do not require sharpening, and yet which will prevent 


Jane, Wey Fic. 176 


Screw-calk with H-formed cross- Screw-calk with -+-formed cross- 
section, section. 

slipping even after they have been used for a long time upon 

bare pavements. It cannot be denied that such calks have 

considerable value, and, except when the ground is covered 

with ice, many of these calks render excellent service. Just 

as the ordinary sharp ealks are satisfactory and very durable 

outside of the large cities, so now for the first time a few of 

these recently invented sharp calks seem to be worthy of 

recommendation for city use. The following are the best: 
1. Serew-ealks and peg-calks with H-shaped eross-section 

1D): 

Screw-ealks with -+--shaped cross-section (Fig. 176). 

Screw- and peg-calks with O-shaped cross-section (Fig. 176). 

Serew- and peg-calks with S-shaped cross-section. 

. Angle-ealks (Fig. 177). 

Serew- and peg-calks with rubber foot-pad. 

Serew-cealks with Y star-shaped cross-section (Fig. 178). 


iS 


ot 9 po dR 


a 


156 HORSESHOEING. 


8. Hollow wedge-calks (Fig. 179). 

9. Perforated screw-ealks (Fig. 180). 

There is no doubt that the grip that these calks take upon 
the ground and their durability depend upon the diameter and 
the arrangement of their surfaces of friction. From all ex- 


HKG eamleadee Fig. 178. Hires 79: Hires: 


Star calk. Hollow calk. Perforated calk. 


Fie. 181. 


\ =] 


a! 


IT) 


LECT 


Universal screw-calk key with tap. 


HG al S2* 


Felber’s hand-vise to secure the hoof from twisting while changing the screw-calks. 


periments made thus far it is shown that those calks which 
have narrow and comparatively few surfaces of friction are 
the least durable. 

To introduce and remove the calks we use a calk key or 
wrench. For the shop, the ordinary fork key (Fig. 181), the 
jaws of which are tempered, is recommended. It fits all calks. 


CHAR EER Vil. 
HOOF NURTURE. 


Hoor nurture comprises all those measures which are em- 
ployed to keep hoofs healthy, elastic, and serviceable. 


A. Care of Unshod Hoofs. 


The care of the hoofs of colts is of special importance. 
Abundant exercise upon dry ground which is not too stony is 
most beneficial. Such exercise will cause the hoofs to wear 
gradually, and it will only be necessary from time to time to 
observe whether the wear 
is taking place uni- ° 
formly, and if not, to 
correct the uneven wear 
with the rasp. 

If colts are reared 
in the stable, the horn 


5 aoe : . : 
continuing to SEO down Twisted left front long pastern of colt, viewed from 


does not undergo suffi- the upper articular surface. The lower end has been 
A twisted toward the left: a, transverse axis of lower 
client wear, and changes articular surface; b, transverse axis of the upper artic- 


in form of the hoof, and “°° 

even permanent distortions of the bones of the foot gradu- 
ally occur. The wall becomes too long and bends or some- 
times separates from the sole and keraphyllous layer. Weak 
quarters bend (curl) inward and encroach upon the space 
occupied by the frog (contracted feet of colts). The toe be 
comes too long, and this gives rise to too steep a position 
of the pastern and causes an insecure and diffident gait; there- 
fore the hoofs must be shortened from time to time. The in- 
eurved quarters should be removed with the hoof-knife, and 
the outer edge of the plantar border of the wall well rounded 

, 157 


\\ a 


158 HORSESHOEING. 


with the rasp. In the base-wide and base-narrow standing 
positions the outer and inner walls respectively become relatively 
long and induce the colt to assume a still more abnormal posi- 
tion. The young and pliant pasterns may thus become perma- 
nently twisted and distorted (see Figs. 183 and 184). In 
a hoof that is becoming awry, restoring to the wall its proper 
level with relation to the 
position of the limb will 
not only be invaluable in 
ultimately producing a good 
hoof, but will improve the 
faulty position of the limb. 
In exceptional cases, where 
the plantar border of some 
section of the wall gives 
evidence of too rapid wear, 
the application of a tip or 
of a half-shoe may be of 
benefit. Furthermore, we 
should attempt to secure 
greater cleanliness by fre- 
quently and thoroughly wash- 
ing the hoofs and bedding 
oclatt Mont neopets ofa mortc ime: with, plenty of good imam 
axis of upper articulation; 6, transverse axis of Too early shoeing of 
coronary joint, not parallel to upper axis. sh Rares 
young horses is very injuri- 
ous; it hinders the development of the hoofs, and, furthermore, 
young horses when shod are frequently seriously overworked 
and prematurely ruined. Moderate work in the fields does not 
injure young horses, but for such service they do not require 
shoes. 
The unshod hoofs of older horses should be periodically 
rounded with a rasp and the length of the walls regulated when, 
by reason of a lack of exercise, proper wear has not taken place. 


Fic. 184. 


HORSESHOEING. 159 


B. Care of Shod Hoofs. 


Shod hoofs are exposed to many more injuries than are 
unshod hoofs, because shoeing itself, although absolutely neces- 
sary to render horses continuously serviceable upon hard streets, 
is injurious to the hoof, since it to a greater or less extent 
prevents the physiological movements of the different parts of 
the foot, interferes with the circulation of the blood in the 
foot, slows the growth of the horn, and brings about a gradual 
shrinking of the entire hoof. 

In addition, there are the injurious consequences of stabula- 
tion. These are prevention of free movement, uncleanliness 
due to bad floors and filthy bedding,—as, for example, peat 
moss and soiled straw,—and dryness. 

Continuous standing always contributes to contraction of 
the hoofs, and this evil is greatly favored by dryness, which 
more particularly affects the front hoofs. The hind hoofs re- 
ceive sufficient moisture from the animal’s manure. Poor 
floors, particularly those that are uneven, tire the limbs. 
Accumulation of manure and the careless use of stationary sole- 
pads induce thrush of the frog. 

The object of hoof nurture is to lessen or entirely remove 
all these injurious consequences of shoeing’ and stabulation. 
It comprises, therefore, not only the proper shortening of the 
hoofs every five to six weeks, but careful attention to cleanliness 
and moisture. Both are insured by dry straw and daily picking 
out and washing the hoofs. Such measures will prevent thrush 
in the hind feet. If front hoofs are washed once a day, suffi- 
cient moisture will penetrate the horn to give it that degree 
of suppleness (elasticity) which is possessed by an unshod hoof, 
and which contributes to a proper expansion of the hoof when 
the body-weight is placed upon it. In order to prevent a hoof 
from again drying out, the entire hoof should receive a thorough 
application of an oil or ointment (hoof-salve). The object of 
greasing the horn is to prevent evaporation of the moisture 


160 HORSESHOEING. 


that has penetrated the horn. Specially compounded hoof- 
salves are not necessary. Melted horse-grease, pork-fat, or any 
other fat that is not rancid is suflicient. Cosmoline is an 
excellent hoof-salve. 

Abundant but not excessive exercise 1s more necessary than 
anything else to the preservation of the health of the hoof. It 
aids the cireulation of blood within the foot, and, therefore, 
the growth of the horn. Horses which perform hard, regular 
work have, as a rule, better hoofs than those which stand the 
greater part of the time in the stable. Poulticing hoofs with 
clay, bran, linseed-meal, or white-rock, or standing them in 
water is unnecessary if they have had proper care, but will 
sometimes be of benefit when the hoofs have been neglected, 
and especially so for front hoofs. The latter are more exposed 
to drying influences, and the shoes prevent the moistening 
process by keeping the hoofs partially or completely removed 
from contact with the earth. Ozling alone is not sufficient to 
soften horn, but must always be preceded by permeation of the 
horn with water. Oiling without first cleansing the hoof is 
useless, because thissoon produces a greasy crust underneath 
which the horn is crisp and brittle. 

The surest sign of cleanliness of a hoof is the appearance of 
the natural color of the horn, the latter appearing translucent 
even after the hoof-ointment has been applied; therefore, black- 
ened hoof-ointments should not be used. When hoofs are ex- 
posed to too much moisture (muddy roads, melting snow, ete.) 
an addition of wax or common yellow rosin to the hoof-oint- 
ment is recommended to prevent too great softening of the horn. 
No hoof-ointment has any direct influence upon the growth of 
the horn. 

Inasmuch as it is a fact that the very best shoeing injures 
the hoof, it is advisable to allow horses to go barefoot whenever 
it is possible. This applies especially to horses that from any 
eause are thrown out of service, presupposing, of course, that 
the nature of the hoofs will allow them to go barefoot. 


— ee eeeee_”-—rr Tt 


PARI: Lit: 


CEASE Tbs VET Ie 


GENERAL REMARKS CONCERNING THE SHOEING OF DEFECTIVE 
HOOFS AND LAME HORSES. 


Tue boundary between health and disease of the hoof is 
difficult to determine, especially when we have to deal with 
minor defects of structure or shape of the hoof. Ordinarily, 
we first consider a hoof diseased when it causes lameness. How- 
ever, we know that diseases of the hoof may exist without lame- 
ness. Therefore, a hoof should be regarded as diseased or 
defective when the nature of the horn, the form of the hoof, 
or the parts enclosed by it, deviate from what we consider as 
normal or healthy (see page 81), whether the service of the 
animal is influenced by it or not. 

Front hoofs become diseased or defective more readily to 
hind hoofs, because they bear greater weight, have more slant- 
ing walls, and are more exposed to drying influences. All nor- 
mally wry hoofs and acute-angled hoofs become more readily 
diseased than regular and upright (stumpy) hoofs. 

The indications of the various diseases of the hoof are dis- 
cussed in the following chapters. We shall in this chapter 
undertake only a brief general discussion of inflammation of 
the pododerm. This inflammation, known as pododermatitis, 
always manifests itself by lameness and, under closer examina- 
tion of the foot, by increased warmth, pain, and stronger pul- 
sation of the digital and plantar arteries. The pain produces 
either a timid, shortened (sore) gait, or well-marked lameness, 
especially upon hard ground. Increased sensitiveness of the 
pododerm is detected by compression of the hoof with the 
pincers (hoof-testers), or with greater certainty by lightly 

11 161 


162 HORSESHOEING. 


tapping the hoof. The increased warmth of a part or of the 
entire hoof is detected by feeling with the hand. Intense pain 
and greatly increased warmth, with a moderate, diffuse swelling 
of the soft parts between the hoof and fetlock-joint, indicate 
suppuration within the hoof. 

The examination of horses lame in the feet must always be 
cautious and searching, and should begin with the moving and 
judging of the horse as already described on page 90. The 
faults detected in the hoof or in the shoeing, the pain and in- 
creased warmth of the hoof, will not leave us in doubt as to 
whether the animal is lame in the hoof or not. However, 
should there be a doubt, we must carefully examine all the 
joints and tendons of the foot and, if necessary, of the limb 
above, and observe the animal’s manner of travelling at a walk 
and at a trot, on soft and on hard ground, in a straight line 
and in a circle. 

The removal of the shoe should be performed with greatest 
caution. Under certain conditions the second shoe should not 
be removed until the first has been replaced. The same caution 
must be observed in paring the hoof, which is to be regarded as 
a part of the examination of the hoof. The paring of a hoof 
for this purpose often differs somewhat from the preparation 
of a sound hoof for the shoe, and while it is necessary because 
it frequently furnishes the first trustworthy indication of the 
trouble. it must be done with cireumspection and intelligence. 

The causes of diseases of the hoof are very numerous, for 
many external influences act injuriously upon the hoof. In 
addition to too great dryness, want of care (neglected shoeing), 
and premature, unreasonable, cruel use of the horse, should be 
mentioned particularly injudicious dressing of the hoof and 
direct and indirect faults in the shoeing. The pododerm, shut 
in between the hard os pedis, and the stiff, unyielding horn 
capsule, is frequently exposed to bruising and other injuries. 
from which arise most of the defects of the hoof itself. All 
these things lead, under certain conditions, to lameness. 


SS 


HORSESHOEING. 163 


Treatment.—First of all, the discovered causes should be 
removed, or, if this is not possible, as is frequently the case, 
they should be ameliorated. Very often the lameness may be 
removed by proper shoeing, a change in the animal’s work, and 
better care of the hoof. When there is intense inflammation 
within the foot, the shoe should be removed for a few days. 
When the inflammation is moderate and confined to a small 
area, it is usually sufficient to alter the shoeing by regulating 
unnatural relations of height in the different parts of the wall, 
and by removing all superfluous horn from the wall and sole 
(to a less degree from the frog), partly for the purpose of 
rendering the horn capsule more yielding, and partly to make 
the poultices which are used more effective. The shoe is then 
to be so applied that the diseased region will be relieved of the 
body-weight, and will remain free from all pressure from the 
shoe. This can be done partly by making the underlying 
branch of the shoe somewhat wider and longer than the other, 
and partly by cutting down the bearing-edge of the wall where 
this is possible without weakening 
it too much, otherwise by conecay- 
ing or beating down the upper 
surface of the shoe. By reason of 
the fact that the posterior half 
of the hoof is the seat of most / 
diseases of the hoof, it is to be 
recommended that the nail-holes {th 
in shoes used in these diseases be \\\'\ 
placed as far as possible in the \' 
anterior half of the shoe, and in 
some special cases distributed 
evenly around the toe. Among 
shoes suitable for diseased hoofs 
the bar-shoe (Fig. 185) holds the first place, because it 
renders superfluous many other shoes specially designed 
for various diseases of the hoof. It is made like an ordinary 


Bar-shoe for right foot. 


164 HORSESHOEING. 


flat shoe, except that it requires a somewhat longer piece of 
iron; the ends of the branches are bent inward over a dull 
corner of the anvil, bevelled, laid one over the other, and 
welded together to form the bar. The width and thickness of 
the bar should be the same as of the rest of the shoe, and its 
frog-surface should be slightly concave. 

The bar-shoe is valuable, because it protects from pressure 
diseased sections of the wall which have been laid free, allows 
part of the body-weight to be borne by the frog, and restores 
normal activity to the disturbed physiological movements of the 
foot. By using it we can either gain a more extensive bearing- 
surface for the hoof, or can make it easier for the surface that 
bears the weight to do the work. If on account of weakness 
of the bearing-surface of the hoof, or from any other cause, we 
wish to distribute the body-weight over the entire plantar sur- 
face of the foot with the exception of the painful region, we 
add a leather sole to the bar-shoe. 

In this case it is necessary to place holes in the ends of. 
the branches of the shoe, so that we may rivet the leather 
firmly to the shoe with small nails. The shoe should be made 
somewhat wider than the hoof, and the clips somewhat higher 
than usual. After fitting the shoe the grooves for the clips are 
cut in the leather, the latter is riveted to the shoe, and all 
leather projecting beyond the outer edge of the shoe is trimmed 
away. The lacune of the frog and other concavities of the sole 
are then thickly smeared with wood-tar and afterwards filled 
up with oakum to such a degree that the packing will bear 
some of the body-weight when the shoe and leather sole are in 
position. This packing is of great importance, because it pre- 
vents the filtering in from behind of sand and slime, preserves 
the toughness and pliability of the horn, breaks shock, and 
produces a gradual expansion of the posterior half of the hoof. 
Before nailing the shoe to the foot the leather sole should be 
soaked in water. 


HORSESHOEING. 165 


Classification of Diseases of the Hoof. 


INFLAMMATIONS OF THE PODODERM. 


1, Nailing (pricking and close nailing); 2, street-nail ; 
3, ealk-wounds; 4, corns (bruised sole); 5, bruised heels; 6, 
laminitis (founder); 7, keraphyllocele (tumor of horny 
leaves). 


DEFECTS OF THE HORN CAPSULE AND LATERAL CARTILAGES. 


(a) Changes of form: 1, flat hoof and full hoof (dropped 
sole) ; 2, upright hoof (stumpy or stubby hoof); 3, contracted 
hoof ; 4, wry hoof; 5, crooked hoof; 6, ossification of the lateral 
cartilage (side-bone). 

(b) Disturbances of continuity of the horn capsule: 1 
eracks; 2, clefts; 3, loose wall; 4, hollow wall; 5, thrush. 


y) 


CHA Palak ay) dank: 
INFLAMMATIONS OF THE PODODERM (PODODERMATITIS). 


1. Nailing. 


Wounps of the velvety tissue of the sole or of the podophyl- 
lous tissue of the wall, caused by nails which have been driven 
into the hoof for the purpose of fastening the shoe, are usually 
termed “ nailing.” 

We distinguish direct and indirect nailing; the former is 
noticed immediately, the latter later. 

In direct nailing the nail passes directly into the pododerm 
(velvety tissue of the sole, podophyllous tissue) ; the wound pro- 
duced may vary from a simple puncture of the pododerm to 
chipping of the border of the os pedis, and is always accompa- 
nied by bleeding, even though it may not always be noticed. 

In indirect nailing the nail does not pass entirely through 
the horn capsule, but very close to the sensitive tissues, and 
crowds the soft horn inward against them. This inward bulging 
presses upon the pododerm and causes inflammation and lame- 
ness, which may not manifest themselves for several days. 

Symptoms.—The first symptom of direct nailing is instant 
pain indicated by flinching or a jerking of the limb, showing 
that the nail has taken a wrong course, and then a more or less 
profuse hemorrhage. Usually the blood flows from the nail- 
hole, or the nail when withdrawn may merely show a blood- 
stain at its point; however, internal bleeding may oceur with- 
out any external manifestations. The symptoms of indirect 
nailing are entirely different. In this case pain does not arise 
immediately, but later, sometimes as soon as the horse attempts 
to bear his weight upon the shod foot. In the latter case, on 
holding up the opposite foot the animal sways backward and 
throws his weight upon the holder, or becomes restless. As a 

166 


HORSESHOEING. 167 


rule, the consequences of indirect nailing are first manifested 
after two or three days, infrequently from the eighth to the 
fourteenth day, as inflammation within the hoof and lameness, 
at which time a careful examination will usually reveal in- 
creased warmth of the hoof, pain upon pressure with the hoof- 
testers and on tapping the hoof lightly, some swelling of the 
entire foot, increased pulsation of the digital arteries, and un- 
willingness of the animal to place all or perhaps any of its 
weight upon the foot. 

Suspicion of nailing should be entertained if the shoeing 
be recent, the hoof appear too small in relation to the body- 
weight, the walls have been thinned by rasping or have been 
broken away, or if the nails have been driven too high or very 
irregularly, 

Causes.,—The most common causes are mistakes in shoeing. 
In the majority of cases the cause is a disregard of the rule that 
the nails should penetrate the white line (see pages 118, 119 
and 130, heavy type). 1, Using badly-punched shoes; 2, excessive 
paring and shortening of the hoof; 3, weakening of the lower 
border of the wall by excessive rasping away of the outside 
(Fig. 187, c); 4, mistakes in fitting the shoe, especially apply- 
ing shoes that are too narrow, letting the toe-clips too deep 
into the horn, by which the nail-holes near the toe, instead of 
falling upon the white line, are carried back upon the edge of 
the sole, or using shoes in which the nail-holes are too wide 
or improperly directed; 5, using nails that are split, ineom- 
plete, badly formed and bevelled, and too large; 6, starting 
nails too deep or with the bevel on the outside, or drawing them 
too tight. As occasional causes may be mentioned: 7, old nail- 
stubs in the horn; 8, walls that are very thin or broken away; 
9, a soft, crumbling wall, which alters the sound and feeling 
of the nail as it is driven, and makes it difficult to judge of its 
course ; 10, restlessness of the animal while being shod, 

Examination.—Press with the hoof-testers upon the sole 
and clinches; tap lightly upon the clinches. If these acts cause 


168 HORSESHOEING. 


pain, there can be little doubt that the nail is responsible for 
the damage. Remove the shoe by drawing each nail separately 
and carefully. Examine the nails with reference to their diree- 
tion and size, as well as to staining with blood, blood-serum, 
or pus. Immediately after removing the shoe, look for the 
point of entrance of each nail into the hoof, and if a nail-hole 
be found upon the edge of the sole (Fig. 187, b) instead of in 
the white line, it is highly probable that the nail which passed 


Fig. 187. 


Fic. 186. 


Cross-section of a shod hoof, the hoof-skin or Front hoof deficient in horn: a, right 
pododerm being in red: a, indirect nailing position of the nail-holes in the white 
where backsetting has been overdone and has line; b, faulty position inside of the 
bent the nail; b, nail properly placed and of white line; c, wall weakened by exces- 
correct shape. sive rasping. 


in at that place pressed upon the sensitive tissues of the foot. 
Every nail-hole should then be searched by passing a clean new 
nail into it and pressing its point towards the soft tissues at 
various depths; any indication of pain caused by this act is 
pretty sure proof of nailing. It stands to reason that the 
character of the nail-holes in the shoe should be closely 
examined. 

Treatment.—When the foot has sustained an ordinary 
simple prick with a nail, the latter should be left out and the 
hole well filled with wax. As a rule, no serious results follow. 


HORSESHOEING. 169 


In severe direct nailing the entire shoeing should be most 
carefully examined, and only after everything is found to be 
right, and the shoe fits in such a manner that the nails can 
only penetrate the wall from the white line, can it be regarded 
as correct. The offending nail-hole is then to be closed with 
wax. According to the intensity of the wound we may expect 
a more or less pronounced inflammation of the pododerm, and 
this is to be combated by resting the animal and cooling the 
foot. 

If the wound is clean and recent, enlarging the opening in 
the horn by eutting and boring can have no reasonable object ; 
the wound by such an act will not be made smaller, but larger. 

Frequently, however, the wound is not observed or suspected 
until the pain has become very intense (indirect nailing, nail- 
pressure) ; in such cases the offending nail when withdrawn is 
apt to be covered with pus or a dark, thin, ill-smelling liquid. 
In such a ease the liquid, whatever its nature may be, must be 
given free escape. In order to accomplish this it is entirely 
sufficient to cut away a section of the wall from the nail-hole 
outward, not greater than the width of the little finger, and 
then to assist in the discharge of the pus by placing the foot in 
a warm bath; it is entirely wrong, in fact, reprehensible, to 
remove all horn of the wal] and sole which has been loosened 
from tlie soft parts by the suppurative process. After the 
escape of the inflammatory fluids, the wall and sole will form 
the best-fitting and most suitable protective dressing for the 
diseased region until it has secreted new horn. Tf, after re- 
moval of the nail and pus, the pain does not diminish, warm 
disinfecting baths of one to two parts of creolin, or the same 
amount of lysol, to one hundred parts of water at a temperature 
of about 90° F. will be of especial benefit; they will not only 
soften the horn, but by their moisture and warmth will directly 
diminish the pain and have a healing influence upon the sup- 
purating surfaces. The warm baths must actually be warm and 


170 HORSESHOEING. 


be kept warm. Antiseptic solutions at room temperature are 
much less efficient. 

If the pain has not been very pronounced, or if it has been 
greatly alleviated by two or three warm baths, then, as a rule, 
it is sufficient to put a few drops of creolin upon the inflamed 
surface, and to close the opening with oakum (carbolized oakum 
or carbolized cotton is better). 

The horse which has been nailed will be again perfectly 
serviceable after a few days if shod with a shoe which does not 
press upon the inflamed region. The shoe does not press when 
it rests only upon the bearing-edge of the wall, when the white 
line and the edge of the sole are entirely free of the shoe, and 
no nails are driven in the immediate vicinity of the wound. 


Even though, as we have seen, nailing in the great majority of 
cases is not particularly serious to the horse and owner, yet we should 
never forget that tetanus (lockjaw), a disease which is nearly always 
fatal to horses, may follow. Nailing, however insignificant it may 
seem, may under conditions lead to the death of the horse. 


2. Street-Nail. 


The condition caused by accidental injury of the sensitive 
structures covered by the horny sole, such as the velvety tissue 
of the sole and frog, plantar cushion, perforans tendon, navicu- 
lar bone, os pedis, or the pedal articulation, by sharp objects, 
especially nails, is called “ penetrating street-nail,” or simply 
“ street-nail.” The resistance of the ground to the weight of 
the body drives these penetrating objects through the sole or 
frog into the foot. 

Hind hoofs are more often affected than fore-hoofs. A 
favorite point of entrance is the lateral lacuna of the frog. 
Street-nail is favored by excessive thinning of the sole and 
frog. 

Symptoms.—The symptoms are, as a rule, sudden pain fol- 
lowed by lameness. The first assistance is usually sought in 
the shoeing-shop. If the cause of lameness be found to be a 


HORSESHOEING. 171 


penetrating nail, piece of glass, or other pointed foreign body, 
it must be carefully drawn out, in doing which we should re- 
move the entire object, not allowing pieces to break off and 
remain in the wound. Since it is always important to know 
in what direction and how deep the foreign body has penetrated, 
in order to be able to estimate the gravity of the wound, it is 
advisable in all cases to preserve the penetrating body, that it 
may be shown to the veterinarian, in case his services are 
required. 


Shod hind foot, with splint dressing. 


In slight injuries to the velvety tissue of the sole or frog, 
accompanied with moderate pain, it is of no benefit to enlarge 
the opening, though the horn of the sole or frog should be 
thinned for the space of an inch or more around the wound, 
followed by cooling appleations. Deep, penetrating wounds 
accompanied with intense pain require the attention of a veter- 
inarian. 


172 HORSESHOEING. 


Often some form of dressing is necessary, and this is usually 
held in place by a special shoe. For slight injuries, such 
splint-dressings as are shown in Figs. 188 and 189 are sufficient. 
Whether such a dressing be applied to the front or hind feet, 
the shoe should be well concaved upon the hoof-surface. The 
dressing is held in place by thin splints of tough wood, which 
are firmly wedged between the shoe and hoof. 


SN 


Fie. 189. 


———e .\: 


UT 
i 


A practical ‘‘splint shoe’’ for hospital use. 


In those rare cases in which it is necessary to maintain 
continuous pressure upon the seat of the wound, and to protect 
the entire plantar surface of the hoof, a covered shoe (Figs. 
190 and 191) is recommended. This shoe is provided with a 
sheet-iron cover, having at the toe a spur which fits into a cor- 
responding hole in the toe of the shoe, and fastened at the 


heels by means of screw heel-calks. 


HORSESHOEING. 173 


3. Calk Wounds of the Coronet. 


All tread-wounds of the coronet, caused by the calks of the 
opposite shoe, by the shoes of other horses, or by forging, are 
known as ealk wounds, or simply as “ calking.” The injury 
itself is either a bruise or a bruised wound, followed by inflam- 
mation of the coronary cushion and an interruption in the 
formation of horn at that point. It occurs most often in winter 


Fig. 190. 
Fie. 191. 


6. 


Shoe with cover-plate for street-nail treatment; suitable where pressure-dressing is de- 
sired: a, hole in the bottom of the toe-ealk for reception of spur, 6b, of cover-plate; ¢, holes 
for reception of screw-calks, d, which fasten the cover-plate to the shoe. 


from sharp ealks, especially on the hind feet. The common 
seat of the injury is the coronet of the toe and inner side of 
the foot. 

The inflammation terminates either in resolution—that is, 
passes gradually away, leaving the tissues apparently normal— 
or in suppuration. The perioplic horn-band, which is usually 
loosened from the perioplic band by the injury, does not again 
unite. For this reason, and because of the interruption in the 


174 HORSESHOEING. 


formation of horn at the seat of injury, there results a trans- 
verse depression or cleft in the wall. 

The shoeing has to deal only with the lameness that may 
be present as a result of the calking. The section of the wall 
containing the lesion should be shortened, so that it will not 
press upon the shoe. Serious calk wounds, as a rule, require 
treatment by a veterinarian. 


4. Corns (Bruised Sole). 


The expression ‘“‘ corns” is applied to nearly all bruises of 


the pododerm of the posterior half of the foot, with the excep- 
tion of the frog, which are apparent to the eye as yellowish, 
reddish, or bluish-red discolorations of the horn of the sole and 
white line. 

The surface of the pododerm (fleshy leaves and villi) is 
chiefly involved, and almost without exception there is rupture 
of small blood-vessels and an outpouring of blood between the 
pododerm and the horn. The blood penetrates the horn-tubes 
and causes the above-mentioned staining. By subsequent growth 
of horn these stained patches are carried downward, and are 
finally uncovered and brought to sight in paring the hoof. 

The seat of corns is either on the fleshy leaves of the 
quarters, or on the velvety tissue of the sole in the angle between 
the wall and the bar, or on the fleshy leaves of the bars. Thus 
we distinguish corns of the wall, sole, and bars. 

Corns affect chiefly the front hoofs, and more often the 
inner half than the outer. Unshod feet are seldom affected. 

According to the intensity of the lesions we distinguish : 

1. Dry Corns.—The red-stained horn is dry, and there is 
seldom lameness. 

2. Suppurating Corns.—They are the result of intense 
bruising followed by inflammation. The pus is either thin and 
dark grayish in color, denoting a superficial inflammation of 
the pododerm, or yellowish and thick, denoting a deep in- 


HORSESHOEING. 175 


flammation of the pododerm. In the latter case a veterinarian 
should be called. Lameness is usually pronounced. 

3. Chronic Corns.—In this ease there is vivid discoloration 
of horn in all possible hues. The horn is either soft, moist, 
and lardy, or crumbling, cracked, and at times bloody. The 
inner surface of the horn capsule has lost its normal character, 
and is covered with horny swellings or nodules (Fig. 192, a). 
Sometimes the wing of the os pedis on that side has become 
morbidly enlarged and loosened. A short, cautious gait alter- 
nates with well-marked lameness; the latter appears whenever 
the shoe presses too firmly on 
the corn, or when the hoof be- 
comes too dry. 

The causes, aside from the 
form and quality of the hoofs 
and the position of the limbs, 
lie in injudicious dressing of 
the hoof and in faulty shoes. 
Too much trimming of wide and 
flat hoofs, excessive weakening _ Inner aspect of a quarter of a hoof, 
of the quarters, sole, bars, and Bee Gai Ge wong aac: atic 
frog of all other hoofs, while the att al 
toe is usually left too long, are the usual causes. Shortening one 
quarter too much in relation to the other, so that the foot is un- 
balanced and the lower side overloaded, is a frequent cause. 
Hollowing the sole and bars excessively and unnecessary thinning 
of the branches of the sole in the search for corns are also causes. 

Among faulty shoes we may mention those not level on the 
hoof-surface, trough-shaped, too short in the branches, shoes 
which do not completely cover the bearing-surface of the hoof, 
or whose bearing-surface at. the ends of the branches is directed 
downward and inward so that the quarters are squeezed to- 
gether when the weight is put on the foot. Insufficient con- 
caving of the shoe is often an exciting cause of corns in flat feet 
and in those with dropped soles. A well-formed shoe which 


Fre. 192. 


176 HORSESHOEING. 


does not rest firmly upon the hoof, or which has been shifted as 
a result of careless nailing, may as readily cause bruising of 
the quarters as neglected shoeing. The latter causes, as a rule, 
corns of the sole. It is very rarely that corns are caused by 
stones fastened between the frog and branches of the shoe or 
in unshod hoofs by pebbles becoming wedged in the white line. 

Dryness is particularly injurious to the hoofs, and is in the 
highest degree favorable to the production of corns. It renders 
the hoof stiff and inelastic, and first manifests itself by a 
short, cautious (sore) gait when the horse is first put to work. 

Treatment.—First, removal of the causes, by restoring the 
proper form to the hoof through shortening a toe which is too 
long (especially apt to be the case in acute-angled hoofs), cutting 
down quarters which are too high, and carefully removing all 
dead horn from the branches of the sole, especially in acute- 
angled hoofs. 

Deeply digging out a small area of blood-stained horn is in- 
jurious. It is much better to thin the horn of the entire branch 
of the sole uniformly, in doing which we should avoid wound- 
ing the velvety tissue of the sole or drawing blood. 

The proper shoe is the bar-shoe, except when both carti- 
lages are ossified, The pressure should not be taken from the 
quarters unless they are sore. 

When there is a suppurating corn, the shoe should be left 
off several days. A chronic corn should be protected continu- 
ously from pressure by the shoe. This is accomplished by 
using a bar-shoe with leather sole. A three-quarter shoe 1s not 
sufficient to properly protect a hoof affected with a chronic corn, 
if the animal must perform exacting labor on hard roads. 

The care of the hoof consists in keeping it cool, moderately 
moist, and pliant. 


5. Inflammation of the Heels. 


Inflammation of the bulbs of the plantar cushion (heels) is 
usually caused by such external influences as bruising. It occurs 


HORSESHOEING. 177 


in both shod and unshod feet. The symptoms are: increased 
warmth, pain and swelling, sometimes infiltration of the tissues 
with blood, accompanied by a short, cautious gait, or, if only 
one foot is affected, by well-marked lameness. 

The most frequent causes are: going barefoot upon hard 
(frozen), uneven ground; shoeing hoofs having low heels with 
flat shoes that are too short; sometimes too much frog-pressure 
by the bar of a bar-shoe; forging and grabbing. 

The treatment first indicated is a cooling application in the 
form of an ice-poultice, or a soaking in cold water. Later, 
astringent (drying) applications are of benefit, especially if 
the perioplic horn-ring has partially loosened from the bulbs of 
the heels; for example, a weak solution in water of sulphate 
of copper (1 to 20), followed by the application of a shoe 
with heel-ealks, which is quite long in the branches and which 
must not press upon the wall of the quarters. 


6. Laminitis (Founder). 


By this name we designate a peculiar inflammation of the 
pododerm at the toe, It arises suddenly in well-nourished and 
apparently healthy horses, following excessive work or long- 
continued rest in the stable, and frequently leads to a decided 
change of form of the hoof. 

The disease is always accompanied with intense pain. It 
most often affects both front feet, more rarely all four feet, or 
only one foot. In the first case the two front feet are planted 
far in advance of the body, and the hind feet well forward under 
the belly. When all four feet are affected, travelling is ex- 
ceedingly difficult, often impossible; in this case there is nearly 
always a high fever over the entire body. 

The seat of the disease is in the fleshy leaves about the toe, 
more rarely upon the side walls and quarters. Depending upon 
the intensity of the inflammation, the fleshy leaves are more or 
less loosened from the horny leaves, as a result of which there 
is a change of position of the os pedis, with a simultaneous 

12 


178 HORSESHOEING. 


sinking of the coronet at the toe. This produces a change of 
form of the hoof. The quarters become higher. Rings form 
upon the wall, and their course is quite characteristic of the 
disease. At the toe these rings are quite close to one another, 
but as they pass back towards the quarters they gradually 
separate from one another and recede from the coronary band 
(Figs. 193, 194, and 195). 

The wall at the foe is sunken just under the coronet; its 
lower part, on the contrary, is thrust forward. Later, the white 


rea 93s 


SS 


Vertical longitudinal section of a foot altered by chronic laminitis: a, hollow wall at toe 
thrust forward; 6, leafy layer much thickened and crumbling (‘‘seedy-toe’’); c, dotted line 
showing limit to which the toe may be rasped away in shoeing; d, dropped sole; e, atrophy 
of lower sharp edge of os pedis; g, dotted line indicating the height of the perioplic band; h, 
foot axis. 


line becomes pathologically widened. The horn of the white 
line is dry, crumbling, and easily broken down, so that a break 
in continuity (crack) is apt to occur between the wall and sole, 
and lead to the formation of a hollow wall (“seedy toe’). 
Where the inflammation is moderate and is not repeated, healing 
usually takes place and the horn grows down regularly and in 
normal direction from the coronet. However, a rather brittle 
condition of the horn remains permanently. If, on the con- 
trary, the inflammation was very severe or repeated several 
times, the horny sole becomes flat just in front of the point of 
the frog as a result of the sinking of the os pedis, or it may even 


HORSESHOEING. 179 


drop below the level of the wall (full hoof, dropped sole). In- 
deed, it even happens at times that the toe of the os pedis per- 
forates the horny sole just in front of the point of the frog. 


1drce; 1 


Foundered foot (chronic laminitis), before Foundered foot, dressed and shod. The 
dressing. dotted lines indicate its form before being 
dressed,—i.e., as shown in Fig. 194. 


The wall at the toe, which was previously but little altered in 
form, is now thrust prominently forward. 

The inflammation of the pododerm may under certain con- 
ditions and by skilful veter- 
inary treatment be removed, Fic. 196. 
so that the characteristic \ 
changes of form and quality 
of the hoof will not occur. 
But if this is not accom- 
plished, as is often the ease, 
the disease will be obstinate, 
and permanent morbid 
changes of the horn capsule A hoof altered by chronic leanne shied ae 
take place. a Penn RU orn te 

Pidiiotse isch AyCON-' wacdwhon bal worn one he 
dition can be used, but the 
gait will be short and stiff. The hoofs are shuffled forward and 
set heels first to the ground, a manner of travelling that rapidly 
wears away the branches of the shoe. 

In dressing a foundered hoof the outer circumference of 


180 HORSESHOEING. 


the sole is the guide. The thick projecting wall at the toe may 
be removed with the rasp without injuring the foot. The sole 
should be spared, but the quarters should be lowered to improve 
the setting of the foot to the ground. 

The choice of the shoe will depend upon the shape and 
nature of the sole. If this is still concave, an ordinary shoe 
may be used. If, however, the sole is flat or dropped, it must 
be protected by an open shoe with a broad web, or with a 


Fic. 197. Fig. 198. 


A well-covered (wide-webbed) bar-shoe, An open shoe for a foundered foot with a 
with two lateral toe-clips and an end-clip, dropped sole. 
for a foundered foot. 


bar-shoe (Fig. 197), which is of especial value when the bear- 
ing-edge of the wall is weak or broken away. 

As long as there is pain on pressure about the toe there 
should be no toe-clip, but two side-clips. The wall between 
these clips should be lowered a tenth to an eighth of an inch 
to prevent pressure of the shoe upon the sensitive tissues of 
the toe (Fig. 195). The nails should be as small as possible 
and placed well back towards the quarters. No nail should be 
driven in the wall at the toe when there is separation of sole 
and wall at the toe (hollow wall, seedy-toe). 

The shoes of horses affected with founder often work 


HORSESHOEING. 181 


forward as a result of the animals travelling upon their heels. 
To prevent this evil, clips may be raised at the ends of the 
branches of an open shoe, or one clip in the middle of the bar, 
in case a bar-shoe is used (Fig. 197). 


7. Keraphyllocele (Horn Tumor). 


A keraphyllocele is a more or less sharply bounded horn tumor 
projecting from the inner surface of the wall. 

Its oceurrence is rare. Its favorite seat is at the toe. Jt rarely 
causes lameness. It ean only be diagnosed 
with certainty when it extends downward Fig. 199. 
to the lower border of the wall. In this 
case there may be seen a half-moon-shaped 
thickening of the white line which rounds 
inward upon the edge of the sole, and is 
of a waxen color. Frequently the horn 
at this place crumbles away, leaving a 
more or less dark-colored cavity from 
which there sometimes escapes a_ small 
quantity of dark-grayish pus. 

Causes.—Chronie inflammation of the 
podophyllous tissue, resulting from com- 
pression or bruising. Keraphyllocele fre- 
quently follows a complete toe-crack of 
long duration, or a deep calk-wound at the 
coronet. 

Prognosis—Unfavorable, whether there 
is lameness or not. If there is no lame- 
ness it is very apt to arise later, and if 
lameness is already present it ean only be Eee ani aber Sas ere 
removed by an operation, which should be leaf tumor): a, coronary border; 
performed by a veterinarian. A return of y maui auctor ee da 
the lameness following hard work at a trot shaped opening discharging pus. 
upon hard roads is always to be feared. 

Shoeing.—An ordinary shoe well coneaved underneath the inflamed 
region, which should be relieved of all pressure.* 


* Should lameness persist, it will be necessary to remove a strip of 
the wall from the plantar border to the coronet in order to remove the 
horn tumor. The fleshy leaves which have secreted the tumor must be 
extirpated and the surface of the os pedis well scraped, or the growth 
will return. 


CHA PTE Ry ix: 


DEFECTS OF THE HOOF. 


A. Changes of Form. 


1. Toe Fiat anp THe Furi Hoor (Droprrep Sore). 


(a) Flat Hoof.—A flat hoof is one whose toe and side walls 
are inclined very obliquely to the ground surface, and whose 
sole is on a level with the bearing-surface of the wall. 

It exists most often in horses bred in low-lying, marshy 


countries. 


Frequently the frog is well developed, and projects con- 


siderably beyond the level of the wall. 


The branches of the 


sole sink perceptibly under the weight of the body, much more 


than in better-formed hoofs. 


Preparing the Hoof for the Shoe.-—The rule is to spare the 


plantar surface of the foot. 


Fic. 200. 


és 


Vii MLM 


Cross-section of a shod flat foot: a, suffi- 
ciently high bearing-edge of wall, and a 
horizontal bearing-surface on the shoe; b, 
insufficient height of bearing-edge of wall, and 
therefore a corresponding downward and in- 
ward inclination of the bearing-surface of 
the shoe. 


The shoe, which should be 


After removing from the sole 


what little loose horn there 
may be, level the usually defi- 
cient. bearing-surface of the 
wall with the rasp. The outer 
border of the wall, especially 
at the toe, should be rounded 
off rather more strongly than 
usual, because the toe requires 
and will bear considerable 
shortening. Outward bend- 
ings of the lower border of the 
wall should be removed as far 
as it 1s practicable to do so, 

rather wider in the web and 


thicker than usual, should have its bearing-surface shaped to 


182 


HORSESHOEING. 183 


correspond to the bearing-surface of the wall; that is, if the 
bearing-surface of the wall is below the margin of the sole (the 
sole of the foot being uppermost), then the bearing-surface of 
the shoe should incline downward and inward (Fig. 200, b). 
The bearing-surface of the branches, however, must always re- 
main horizontal. The shoe always requires deep concaving, 
especially along the inner branch of the sole. If the quarters 
are weak, the walls defective, or there are corns, cracks, loose 
walls, or other diseases of the hoof, a bar-shoe should be selected. 

(b) Full Hoof (Dropped Sole).—A full hoof is one whose 
sole instead of being concave is convex,—that is, bulges beyond 
the bearing-surface of the wall. It either arises gradually from 
a flat hoof or is the result of laminitis (founder). In full hoofs 
the lower surface of the os pedis is of the same shape as the 
horny sole. 

The preparation of a full hoof for the shoe consists merely 
in removing all loose horn. In case the dropping of the sole is 
very pronounced, the bearing surface of the wall should be built 
up artificially with Defay’s hoof cement. The shoe should be 
light, but broad in the web, and furnished with a more or less 
deep concaving, which extends from the inner edge of the web 
to the outer edge of the shoe, and corresponds in shape to the 
bulging of the sole. By reason of the deficiency of the wall, 
the bar-shoe deserves the preference over an open shoe. It is 
frequently necessary to apply toe- and heel-calks to remove the 
hoof from contact with the ground. The nails should be thinner 
and longer than usual, and a more secure position of the shoe 
may be secured without injury to the hoof by drawing up two 
side-clips. 

Flat and full hoofs are incurable. Shoeing is of benefit 
only in rendering such horses serviceable. Soles that are soft 
and. sensitive should be smeared with crude turpentine or pine- 
tar, though unusual sensitiveness calls for a leather sole. 
Horses with full hoofs should not be driven faster than a walk 
over hard roads, During long-continued spells of wet weather 


184 HORSESHOEING. 


softening of these hoofs should be prevented by smearing the 
soles with a hoof-ointment containing resin. 


2. Tur Upricut or Stumpy Hoor. 


The upright or stumpy hoof is that form in which the 

quarters, with relation to the toe, are 

Bia. 201. too long (too high). The wall at the 

toe stands very steep, In some cases 

perpendicular, and is strongly worn 
away by standing and travelling. 

Causes.—1. The upright hoof is 

(73 


peculiar to the “standing under” 


position (Fig, 53, page 66) and to 


Upright or stumpy hoof, shod witha 5 > 
“tip.” the so-called bear-foot (Fig. 70, 


page 72). 
9. It arises also as a result of all those alterations in the 


direction of the limbs which tend to remove the quarters from 
contact with the ground (con- 
traction of the flexor tendons, 
spavin,— Fig. 202). 

3. It may arise gradually 
from neglect of the hoofs of 
horses running barefoot. 

4. It may arise from ex- 
cessive shortening of the toe 
in relation to the quarters. 

Shoeing.—The forms of AY 
hoofs mentioned in class 1 ||| 
should be left as they are. b> Hl. mi 
The hoofs that fall under i 


SSS SaaS SS 


y 


9 nada 

class 2 should be dressed and tM ey chal ne ee 
shod until a more natural 

setting down of the foot is secured. This is brought about by 
sparing the quarters, and applying a shoe with thickened 


branches or with heel-calks. Where the service of the animal is 


HORSESHOEING. 185 


exacting and upon hard streets, the toes, especially of the hind 
shoes, may be made more durable by welding in steel plates. 
Besides, the shoe should be moderately base-wide around the 
toe,—that is, should be bevelled downward and outward, should 
have a strong toe-clip, and should be quite concave at the toe and 
rolled. (Figs. 203 and 204). Should the hoof tip forward 
whenever the weight is thrown upon the limb, a shoe with a 


ies, A058}, 


Shoe for stumpy hoofs, viewed from ground-surface, hoof-surface, and in profile. 


spur projecting from the centre of the toe, and turning back and 
pressing upon the wall just underneath the coronary band, will 
be of service (Fig. 202). 

Only those upright hoofs which are the result of the causes 
mentioned in 3 and 4 are to be dressed as ordinary hoofs, and 
if the service required is not too exacting they should be shod 
with tips (Fig. 201), or with shoes with thinned branches. 


3. Tur Contractep Hoor, 


A hoof which has deviated from its normal form in such a 
manner that its posterior half, either in part or as a whole, is 
too narrow, is a contracted hoof. The walls of the quarters 
assume an abnormally oblique direction downward and inward 
towards the median line of the hoof. 


186 HORSESHOEING. 


When contraction affects only one quarter, it is called wni- 
lateral contraction, or abnormal wryness (Fig. 211). 

The buttresses are usually very much prolonged and press 
upon the frog and cause it to shrink. The bars no longer run in 
the natural straight direction from the point of the frog back- 
ward and outward, but describe a circle passing outward, back- 
ward, and inward. 

Contraction affects front feet, especially those of the acute- 

angled form, more often than hind 

Ge Us: feet. In order to determine whether 

; or not a hoof is too narrow, we 

should always examine the frog 

and its lateral lacune. If the frog 

is small and narrow, and the lateral 

lacunze very narrow and deep, there 

ean be no doubt but that the hoof is 
too narrow (contracted). 

The causes, aside from too little 
exercise, are chiefly errors in shoe- 
ing, such as weakening the posterior 
half of the hoof, leaving too long a 
toe, either neglecting to remove the 


_A fore-hoof with bilateral contrac- spurs of horn which grow from the 
tion of the quarters: a, spur of horn 
prolonged from the buttress, which buttresses and press upon the frog, 
Sea a ed > narrow median + removing them incompletely, and 
using shoes whose branches are 
either too wide apart or are inclined downward and inward, 
so that under the weight of the body the heels are squeezed 
together and contraction is favored. 

Prevention and Treatment.—First, it should be borne in 
mind that whatever exercises moderate pressure upon the sole, 
frog, and bars tends to expand the hoof. The action and value 
of the various shoes, frog-, and sole-pads, are measured by this 
rule. For this reason a shoe with heel-calks is never advisable 


if an open flat shoe without other means of relief can be used. 


HORSESHOEING. 187 


Furthermore, since contraction is the parent of nearly all dis- 
eases of the hoof (corns, quarter-cracks, bar-cracks, thrush of 
the frog), we should use the greatest care toprevent it by dress- 
ing the hoof as described on pages 98 to 103, using flat shoes 
with a horizontal bearing-surface for the quarters, giving 
abundant exercise, preventing drying out of the horn, and 
allowing the animal to go barefoot when- 
ever possible. Where the contraction ts 
but slight the foregoing rules will be 
found sufficient. 

In very pronounced contraction, 
where the hoof is not acute-angled, an 
expansive shoe with clips raised at the 
ends of the branches to press against the 
buttresses may prove very advantageous ; 
but under no conditions should violence 
be used in expanding the heels with the 
expanding-screw. This is an act of ex- 
treme delicacy, and should be performed 
only by experienced veterinarians. 

In very pronounced contraction of 
one or both quarters of hoofs of every 
degree of obliquity we may obtain a con- 
tinuous expansive action by the use of 
one of the numerous V-shaped springs, 
of which the Chadwick spring is the best 
(Hie 207 ands 208) ettiter devellinegctaata chao a ais 
the wall and thinning the branches of the *PPosed to the buttress; 6, slot 
sole, the points of the spring are set shoe: B, screw for expanding 

the Defay’s shoe. 
against the buttresses, the apex of the 
spring moved to and fro till the points have bored well into 
the horn, when the apex is laid against the sole at the toe, the 
sole filled with tar and oakum and covered by a leather sole, 
and a bar-shoe applied. If the contraction be less pronounced, 
or if the frog be much shrunken we may place a Chadwick 


Fic. 206. 


188 HORSESHOEING. 


spring beneath a rubber bar-pad with a short shoe. The spring 
may be stiffened from shoeing to shoeing, first by introducing 
the ferrule at the apex of the spring and later by shifting the 
ferrule toward the shoulder (Figs. 207, b, and 208, b). 

For contracted hoofs of the acute-angled form we use the 
bar-shoe, and if there are other diseases of the hoof present, or 
if we wish a more rapid and continuous expansive action, we 
use also a leather sole with foot-packing with or without a 


Fic. 208. 


The Chadwick spring for expanding A fore-hoof showing a Chadwick spring in 
contracted quarters: a, apex of spring; proper position: a, Chadwick spring; b, ferrule 
b, ferrule to stiffen the spring; c, point to stiffen spring as desired; c, uncompressed 
which is buried in a buttress of the hoof. spring before it has been engaged against the 


buttresses; d, buttresses in which points of 
spring are buried. 


buttress spring. A foul frog should be properly cleansed, and 
then disinfected with pine-tar thinned with aleohol or erude 
wood-vinegar (pyroligneous acid). 

Further curative measures are: turning the horse out with- 
out shoes (expensive and seldom practicable); applying tips; 
using shoes the bearing-surface of whose branches inclines 
downward and outward (unilateral contraction requires but one 
branch to be so constructed) ; hoof-pads of rubber (Figs. 145, 


HORSESHOEING. 189 


146, and 147), straw, rope, cork, hoof-cement, ete. Special 
forms of contraction are distinguished, and are as follows: 

(a) The Contraction of Wide Hoofs.—This contraction is 
manifest as a coneavity or groove in the wall just below the 
coronet, usually at the quarters, though sometimes extending 
entirely around the foot parallel to the coronary band (Fig. 
209). Pain is produced in the contracted area by lightly 
tapping the horn, but not by moderate pressure with the hoof- 
testers. 


Green horses with wide hoofs, just from the pasture, are 
particularly lable to this form of 
contraction. As a rule, the lameness 
does not disappear completely until 
the wall has assumed its natural, 
straight direction by growing down 
properly from the coronary band. 


Fic. 209. 


In dressing the hoof and apply- 
ing the bar-shoe, care must be taken 
that the lower border of the wall 
underneath the painful area is 
lowered so much that it will not 
receive direct pressure from the shoe. 

(b) Contraction of the Sole.— 
This is accompanied by an unnatural eer ee ee 
direction of the wall. Instead of the groove in each quarter, and dis- 

0 3 appearing toward the toe. 

wall being straight from the coronet 

to the shoe, it describes a curve whose convexity is outward 
(keg-shaped, claw-shaped when seen from the side) (Fig. 210). 
The hoof seems constricted (tied in) at the coronet and at its 
plantar border, the sole is abnormally concave (arched), and 
the plantar surface of the hoof is considerably shortened 
from toe to heel. It happens in both shod and unshod 
horses, with otherwise strong hoofs, but is quite rare. It is 
occasionally associated with navicular bursitis (‘‘ navicular 
disease ”’). 


190 HORSESHOEING. 


Causes.—Principally dryness, too little exercise, and shoes 
without horizontal bearing-surface. 

The treatment is correspondingly simple: The shoes should 
be flat, fitted full all around to coax the wall out at every point, 
and the outer border bevelled base-wide, so as to furnish a base 
of support that is wider and 
longer than the hoof. In 
moderate contraction of the 
sole, the bearing-surface of 
the shoe should be perfectly 
horizontal, but if the con- 
traction be very pronounced, 
the entire bearing-surface 
should incline downward 
and outward (even at the 
toe). No toe- or side-clip 


A fore-hoof with a contracted sole, properly _] | 
shod: a, toe convex in profile; 6, shoe fitted full all should be used, Jung: shoe 


around, and “‘bearing-surface”’ inclining outward; should be reset everv two 
c, outer border bevelled base-wide. Pee EN ; jee 


weeks; the sole kept so thin 
by paring that it will spring under thumb pressure, and kept 
moist by washing, tubbing or “ stopping,” 
moderate exercise daily. 

In all forms of contraction of the hoof abundant exercise and 
the maintenance of the natural pliancy of the horn by daily 
moistening (washing) with water are absolutely necessary for 
successful treatment. 


and the animal given 


4, Tur Wry Hoor. 


If one side wall and quarter is steep, and the other very 
slanting or oblique, we term such a hoof a “ wry hoof.” Such 
a hoof divided in the middle line presents two very dissimilar 
halves. There are three classes of wry hoofs: 1, normal wry 
hoofs (see Figs. 63-66) ; 2, pathological wry hoofs, or hoofs con- 
tracted in one quarter (see contracted hoofs); 3, wry hoofs 
which are the result of improper shortening of the wall and 
of neglect in horses running barefoot. 


HORSESHOEING. HT 


Only the second and third classes of wry hoofs require 
especial attention. First, the more oblique wall must be cut 
down, and the steep wall spared,—a procedure which differs 
essentially from that employed in treating the first class, but 
is, nevertheless, entirely warranted, because these second and 
third kinds of wry hoofs do not correspond to the direction 
of the limb. 

In order to take weight from the steep wall, we use with 
advantage a bar-shoe, which should be longer and wider than 
the hoof on its contracted 


; Fie. 211. 
side. In other words, enlarge 


the base of support by mak- 
ing the branch of the shoe 
broader. If an entire side 
wall and quarter is  con- 
tracted the branch of the shoe 
beneath must be broad, the Lt 

border bevelled base-wide, oh \) qf ny wey) 

, ‘I \ 

and the branch punched so on is H ty i 


ae 
deeply that the nail-holes XM \) Wy ‘\ 
will fall upon the white line. (MIDI fittamaa’ cp 


In old work-horses any A wry right front foot of the base-wide class, 


wf viewed from behind. The bar shoe is fitted 
sort of shoe may be used, full along the contracted inner quarter, and 


a ; 7 , snug on the outside. The inner branch of the 
though a flat shoe SETVES the frog rests upon the bar of the shoe; the outer 


purpose best. Tf a hoof jis branch is free. The inner quarter from the last 
nail back to the frog is free of the shoe. 


nN | 


Hin 
: 


Wha 


EE Z 
ZF “iw 
Ss : 
—S 


Me 
oe ie ma 


AN) 7 \\q hy it 
WY i Mia a 
‘i HY Wy) Yh NR 


— 


Ss — 


ZZ 


—— 
—— 


wry from faulty paring, and 
we cannot at once completely restore the proper relative slant 
of the two walls by paring alone, we may use a shoe with 
a thicker branch for the half of the hoof which is too low 
(too steep). 

In colts such wry hoofs can often be cured only by shoeing. 
The shoe employed for this purpose is so made that the branch 
underneath the steep(contracted)wall is quite thick, but gradu- 
ally thins away around the toe to the aa of the other branch. 
In strongly marked cases the thin branch may end at the middle 


192 HORSESHOEING. 


of the side wall (a three-quarter shoe), This method of shoe- 
ing shifts the body-weight upon the slanting wall and restores 
the foot to its proper shape in from two to four shoeings. 

Causes.—Unequal distribution of the weight in the inner 
and outer halves of the foot, in conjunction with excessive 
cutting down or wear of the steeper wall. All faults in shoeing 
which tend to produce contraction of the heels aid in the forma- 
tion of a wry foot, especially when these faults directly affect 
the steep wall. Neglect of the colt’s hoofs during the first 
years of life frequently lays the basis for wry foot in later 
years. All wry feet are more susceptible to disease than others. 

The amount or degree of wryness varies considerably. In a 
moderately developed case the steep wall (usually the inner) 
will be drawn in at the plantar border of the quarter, presenting 
a convex surface between this border and the coronet, and the 
adjacent branch of the frog will be more or less shrunken. In 
extreme eases the slanting wall (usually the outer) will also be 
involved and bent in the opposite direction,—i.e., will be con- 
eave (dished) between coronet and lower border (crooked hoof). 

Prognosis.—When the degree of wryness corresponds to the 
slant of the foot-axis and the old shoe shows nearly uniform 
wear, the defect is not directly injurious. In very pronounced 
“ wryness,”” however, with thin, bent walls, a number of asso- 
ciated lesions, such as corns and cracks, may be present and 
render the animal unfit for service upon paved or macadam 
roads. 


5. Tur Crooxep Hoor. 


A crooked hoof (Fig, 212) is one whose walls (viewed from 
in front or behind) do not pass in a straight, natural direction 
from the coronet to the ground, but are bent in such a manner 
that the bearing-surface of the wall in relation to the foot axis 
lies either too far out or in. 

It may occur on any foot, but is seldom strongly marked. 


HORSESHOEING. 193 


Causes.—The causes are either long-continued leaving of 
one-half of the wall too high, or the use of shoes shaped for 
normal feet upon hoofs of the base-wide position. 

The principal part of the treatment is the proper dressing 
of the hoof. The wall which is bent out at the middle and 
drawn in at the plantar border is, as a rule, too high and too 
near the centre of the foot (too narrow); the opposite wall, 
on the contrary, is too low 
and too far from the centre 
of the foot (too wide). This 
explains the manner in which 
the hoof should be cut down 
and rasped. The shoe must 
be laid out as far as possible 
towards the side which is 
too high and narrow. A 
straight edge placed against 
the high wall touches it only 
at its middle. The distance 
of this line from the lower 
edge of the wall shows us how 
far the surface of support— 
namely, the shoe—should be Yj 
set out beyond the horn. If A crooked right fore-hoof of the base-wide 

5 position: a, convex wall, too high; 5, concave 
thee sirarehie (edee. be placed sqrt tco\lows ed shows how much of (enter 
against the opposite wall, it wall must be removed with the hoof-knife; 


f, superfluous horn to be removed gradually 
will touch only at the eoronet with the rasp; c e and g h indicate the position 


of the shoe with relation to the hoof. 

and at the plantar border, 

showing that the wall is concave. The distance of the mid- 
dle of this wall from the straight edge shows us how 
much too wide this half of the wall is at its plantar 
border, and how much of the outer surface of the wall at its 
plantar border should be removed with the rasp. The restora- 
tion of a crooked hoof to its normal form requires several 
shoeings. 

13 


res 2122 


194 HORSESHOEING. 


6. OssIFICATION OF THE LaTrerRAL CartiLace (Sipe-Bone). 


The ossification of a lateral cartilage (Fig. 213) consists in 
a change of the cartilage into bone. Heavy horses are more 
frequently affected than lghter ones. It most often involves 
the outer cartilages of the forefeet, seldom both cartilages. 
Side-bones always interfere with the physiological movements 
of the foot, and may, indeed, entirely suppress them. 

The disease can only be diagnosed with certainty after the 
upper part of the cartilage has ossified. The coronet is then 
rather prominent (bulging), 
and feels hard. The gait is 
short and cautious, and well- 
marked lameness often follows 
severe work. As causes, may 
be mentioned predisposition in 
heavy lymphatic horses, and 
violent concussion or shock due 
to fast work upon hard roads. 
The disease is incurable. 

A special method of shoe- 
A left fore os pedis viewed in profile, show- 


ing ossification of the external lateral carti- INQ 1S only necessary when the 


lage: a, dotted line shows normal line of union mo ° * D 
of cartilage with wing of os pedis; b, ossified outer cartilage 18 ossified and 


portion (‘‘side bone’’). The unossified car- the quarter upon that side is 
tilage has been removed by maceration. 


lintel, Ble} 


contracted. After removing 
the old shoe, whose outer branch is, as a rule, more worn away 
than the inner, the outer wall will always be found too high, 
due to the fact that there has been little or no expansion 
and contraction in this quarter and, therefore, little or no wear 
of the horn against the shoe. The hoof is therefore wry,—on 
the outside too high, and on the inside too low. This shows 
us how the foot should be dressed so as to obtain a proper 
base of support and a uniform wear of the shoe. The most 
suitable shoe is a flat shoe, whose outer branch must be wider 
than the inner. It is so apphed that the inner branch fol- 


HORSESHOEING. 195 


lows the edge of the wall closely, while the outer branch must 
be full and at the quarter must extend beyond the wall far 
enough to touch a perpendicular line dropped from the coronet 
(Fig. 215). The shoe must, therefore, be punched deep (coarse ) 
on the outer branch and fine on the inner, A side-clip must be 


Fig. 215. 


SS 


Right fore-hoof whose form has changed Shoe with broad outer branch, for the 
as a result of ossification of the external lat- hoof shown in the preceding cut. 
eral cartilage. 


placed on the outer branch, because in time the outer half of the 
the hoof will again be too high. Bar-shoes and rubber-pads are 
injurious when both cartilages are ossified, but may be used 
when there is partial ossification of but one cartilage, especially 
if corns are present. 


B. Disturbances of Continuity of the Hoof. 


1. Cracks. 


Interruptions of continuity of the wall extending in the 
direction of the horn-tubes are known as cracks or seams. They 
have, according to their location, degree, and extent, not only 
various names, but also a varying significance. 


196 HORSESHOEING. 


Occurrence.—On the inner side of front hoofs, especially of 
horses that stand base-wide; on hind hoofs, usually at the toe. 
Classification.—According to location we distinguish toe- 
eracks, side-cracks, quarter-cracks, and bar-cracks. Those 
eracks which affect only the upper border of the hoof are called 
coronary cracks ; those which are limited to the lower border of 
the hoof are sometimes designated low cracks (plantar cracks) ; 
while those which are continuous from one border to the other 
are called complete cracks. If the crack passes through the 
entire thickness of the wall to the sensitive tissues underneath, 
it is called a deep or penetrating 
Fic. 216. crack, in econtradistinction to the 
superficial crack (Fig. 216). 
Causes.—There are many. Be- 
sides wounds of the coronet, every- 
thing that impairs the elasticity of 
the horn, weakens the hoof, and 


causes an overloading of one-half of 


Hoof exhibiting a coronary crack, a 
plantar or low crack, and a complete the hoof. Furthermore, great dry- 
deep crack, the latter with a nail ready ‘ LS ¢ 
to be clinched. ness and excessive work on hard 


streets. 

Prognosis.—This will depend upon the age, kind, and loca- 
tion of the crack. A low crack is without significance unless 
it is the remnant of an old coronary crack which has grown 
down. Coronary cracks, on the contrary, are more serious be- 
cause of the lameness which often accompanies them, and 
especially on account of the long duration of the healing process. 

The borders of the crack never grow together, and healing 
ean only take place through healthy, unbroken horn growing 
down from the coronary band. 

(a) Treatment of Coronary and Bar-Cracks.—If practic- 
able, allow the affected horse to go barefoot; otherwise, the 
use of the bar-shoe for all cracks is advised, because it will 
continuously protect the diseased section of wall from pressure 
by the shoe. If there are present still other diseases of the 


————— Oe C—OOO— 


HORSESHOEING. 197 


hoof (corns, contraction, flat or full hoof), the addition of a 
leather sole with packing will be most beneficial, not only in 
favoring the healing of the crack, but also in improving the 
form of the hoof and in favoring the cure of the other lesions. 
In all coronary cracks it is of advantage to assist healing by 
fastening or immobilizing the borders of the crack by one of the 
following methods: 

1. By rivets (nails), which pass across the crack through 
holes previously drilled in the horn (Fig. 217). 

2, By clamps or hooks, which by means of special pincers 
are forced into pockets previously burnt into the horn on 
opposite sides of the crack (Fig. 219, B). 

3. By a thin iron plate placed across the crack and secured 
by small screws, such as are used in wood (Figs. 220, 221). 

4, By means of a bandage to last one shoeing. 

Toe-crack occurs most often in draught-horses and most fre- 
quently in the hind feet. In shod hoofs it starts at the coronary 
border, and unless proper treatment is instituted soon reaches 
the plantar border. Long toes and low quarters and excessive 
dryness of the horn are predisposing causes. The exciting 
cause is usually forward pressure of the upper end of the 
short pastern against the thin upper edge of the wall of the 
toe. In the last part of the phase of contact of hoof with 
ground the pasterns are upright, or may even incline downward 
and backward (foot axis broken strongly backward), the short 
pastern presses the coronary band firmly against the upper thin 
edge of the toe, when if brittle through dryness it is unable to 
stretch and tears asunder. Thus, under the effort of starting 
a heavy load, when a horse with all four legs flexed has risen 
upon the points of his toes, a short quick slip followed by a 
eatch, will frequently start a crack at the coronet. 

The hoof should be so dressed and shod that the foot-axis 
shall be straight when seen from the side. In hind feet it is 
admissible to break the foot axis slightly forward. Therefore, 
shorten the toe and spare the quarters. If the latter are 


198 HORSESHOEING. 


deficient in length, raise them by swelling the branches or by 
low heel-ealks. 

The shoe may be open, or a bar-shoe, or a short shoe with 

a rubber frog- and buttress-pad. Whatever expands the quarters 

closes a toe-crack. The Defay’s 

Fig. 217. shoe (Fig. 206), or the Chad- 

IN Le \\ wick spring beneath a rubber- 

NUM i) pad, or beneath a bar-shoe with 


\\\ ‘\\\) WF | 
\\\\\\ 
1. 


\ 
! 


Wp 


leather sole, if the frog be much 
shrunken, will be of service. The 
shoe should fit air-tight, except 
for an inch or so on both sides 
of the crack. Two lateral toe 
clips (Fig. 217) are drawn up, 
and the wall between these clips 
is cut down from a twelfth to an 
”f eighth of an inch. 

Hee eae lot "Ges ton After the shoe has been nailed 
De Gh heen ly dalled (OU Hight, the tee-crackeaneulld ape 

immobilized. The best method 
is by buried nails. Slots are burned or cut on opposite sides 
at a distance of an inch from the crack. With a spiral drill 
(see Fig. 218) bore a hole from a slot at right angles to the 


Fig. 218. 


Spiral drill for boring the hole into which a round wire nail is driven to fasten a toe-crack. 
(a) three sided point of drill (similar to the point of a stilet of a cxcal trocar). 


crack. Make a similar hole on the opposite side. Make the 
holes continuous by introducing a straight hot wire. The rivet 
may be an ordinary round wire nail which has been softened 
by bringing it to a yellow heat and allowing it to cool slowly. 


HORSESHOEING. 199 


It is driven through and the ends firmly clinched. Such a nail 
is easily placed, need not press upon fleshy leaves, can not be 
stripped off or lost, and holds fast. The horse should stand 
on the foot while the rivet is being clinched. Two are sufficient 
for a complete crack (Fig. 217). 

A more rapid, though less 
efficient method of immobilizing 
a toe- or a quarter-erack is by Ride 
the use of the Vachette hook. A == 
special apparatus is required 
(see Fig. 219). The burning 
iron (Fig. 219, A) is brought 
to a yellow heat, its end applied 
to the wall so that the two ears 
are on opposite sides and equi- 
distant from the crack, when it 
is pressed firmly till the shoulder 
(Fig. 219, 6) touches the sur- 
face of the wall. A Vachette 
hook, the distance between the 
points of which equals the dis- 
tance between the ears of the 
firmg iron, is seized by the 
special pincers ((C’), pressed 
into the slots burned to receive ha 
it, and is then driven into the ,yo'sut to receive the ends of the hook: 
hora by; compressing the pincers, 2 sto ee kewl 
At the toe these hooks are fre- 
quently stripped off by the heels of the opposite shoe (in hind 
feet). Free application of hoof ointment, and maceration of 
the horn by melting snow or mud tends to loosen them so that 
they often drop out. 


ine, FAG). 


An efficient method of fastening either a toe- or a quarter- 
erack is by using a metal plate one-sixteenth (1/,,”) of an 
inch thick, provided with four to eight holes for the reception 


200 HORSESHOEING. 


of screws four- to five-sixteenths of an inch long. The plate is 
heated, bent to conform to the curvature of the wall and pressed 
against the horn till it burns a bed for itself, when it is screwed 
fast. It will not loosen (see Fig. 220, 6). In every complete 
crack of the wall the growing down of coherent horn is favored 
by thinning the horn for an inch on both sides of the crack 
directly over the coronary band (see Fig. 221, a), so that any 
eliding movement between the sides of the crack below can 


Fig. 221. 
Hires 2205 


Hoof with coronary quarter-crack, shod with Hoof withcomplete quarter crack, shod with 
abar-shoe. The part of the quarterrelieved of a bar-shoe: a, area thinned almost to the podoe 
pressure a, is indicated by the dotted lines; b, derm; b, ?; inch metal plate secured by screw 
iron plate secured by small wood screws 7-;5 5 of an inchlong; c, quarter relieved of pres- 
of an inch in length. _ sure from bottom of crack to a perpendicular 

dropped from top of crack. 


not be transmitted through the thinned area to the crack in the 
velvety tissue of the coronary band. Cutting a “V” at the 
coronet acts similarly, but is less efficient. 

Quarter-crack is usually associated with contraction of the 
heels. It occurs on the inner quarter of base-wide (toe-wide) 
hoofs, and rarely in the outer quarter of base-narrow hoofs. 
For quarter-cracks we use a bar-shoe and determine the extent 
of the wall to be laid free in the following manner: We 
imagine the crack to be prolonged in the direction of the horn 
tubes to the plantar border, and drop a perpendicular line from” 
the upper end of the crack to the plantar border. That part 
of the plantar border lying between these two points is then to 


HORSESHOEING. 201 


be lowered sufficiently to prevent pressure from the shoe until 
the next shoeing (Figs. 220, a, and 221, ¢). 

This method should be followed even when the perpendicular 
line falls behind the buttress. 

The crack may be immobilized by the metal plate, or by 
narrow ticking bandage or adhesive tape wound a half dozen 
times around the hoof, in conjunction with a bar-shoe, Chadwick 
spring, leather sole and tar and oakum sole-packing. 

In dressing the hoof, the side containing the crack should 
be spared, the opposite side lowered, the object being to shift 
the weight and consequent expansion into the sound quarter. 
When the affected quarter is deficient in length the branch of 
the shoe beneath should be made thicker, even to the extent of 
causing it to ground in advance of the opposite branch. 

Next to shoeing, rubber hoof-pads render good service, be- 
cause through them a part of the body-weight is distributed over 
the sole and frog. They assist in widening the hoof, and lessen 
shock when the foot is set to the ground. These are all matters 
which favor the growing down of unbroken horn. 

When the crack gaps widely, and the frog is small and deep 
in the foot a shoe with bar -clips (Defay’s shoe), or a Chadwick 
spring, with bar-shoe and leather sole may be used. It is not 
impossible, indeed, to obtain a eure by using an ordinary open 
flat shoe, though much will depend upon the other lesions that 
may be present, the nature of the hoof, and the service required 
of the animal. 

If the edges of the crack are irregular and overlapping, 
they should be carefully thinned away. Thinning the horn on 
both sides of the crack over the coronary band, preventing dry- 
ing out of the horn, and frequent applications of carbolized oil 
to the coronet favor growth of undivided horn and guard against 
a renewal of the crack. 

If in the beginning of the disease there is inflammation and 
lameness, cooling poultices should be used for several days. 
When there is no lameness, the horse may be used for slow 


draft purposes. Coach- and saddle-horses should be kept. 


202 HORSESHOEING. 


from fast work until sound horn has grown down at least one- 
half of an inch from the coronet. 

Bar-cracks are usually the result of changes of position of 
the quarters, and are just as frequently brought about by con- 
traction as by leaving the quarters too high. We see them 
almost entirely upon the fore-hoofs. They seldom occur alone, 
but are usually accompanied by corns. When the crack ex- 
tends to the pododerm there is a superficial inflammation of 
the pododerm and lameness. When treatment is not promptly 
begun the inflammation extends to the deeper layers of the 
pododerm, or, indeed, even to the plantar cushion, and gives 
rise to swelling of the bulb of the heel upon that side and to a 
well-marked lameness, which requires treatment by a com- 
petent veterinarian. 

Ordinarily a bar-erack is only found by a close examination 
of the hoof after the shoe has been removed. In paring the 
hoof the crack usually appears as a dark streak, sometimes as a 
bloody fissure; not infrequently grayish hoof-pus is discovered 
in the depths of the crack. 

The treatment must be directed towards favoring the growth 
of a continuous (unbroken) bar. This is accomplished by com- 
pletely removing the edges of the crack, paring the horn of the 
vicinity very thin, and preventing the least pressure upon the 
wall of this quarter by the shoe, by lowering this quarter with 
the rasp and applying a bar-shoe with leather sole. 

Following the removal of the edges of the crack there often 
appears, especially in stumpy hoofs, a deep groove; if the bot- 
tom of this groove is moist, we should pack it with oakum wet 
with a five per cent. solution of creolin or carbolic acid, and 
cover the oakum with wax (grafting wax). The cracks will 
return if the exciting causes cannot be completely removed. 

(b) Treatment of Low Cracks (Plantar Cracks ).—These 
eracks, occurring principally upon the hoofs of unshod horses, 
are the result of excessive stretching and bending of the lower 
border of the wall. Insufficient rounding of the wall with the 
rasp is largely responsible for them. An exciting cause in 


HORSESHOEING. 203 


shod horses is the use of too large nails in shoes that are punched 
too fine. 

Every coronary crack becomes in time a low or plantar crack, 
and this has an important bearing upon the prognosis, because a 
renewal of the coronary crack will be followed by a low crack. 

In order to remove these cracks it is sufficient merely to 
shoe the horse. Upon shod horses they may be prevented by 
using properly punched shoes and thin nails. The lower border 
of the wall near the crack should be relieved of pressure by 
cutting out a half-moon-shaped piece of horn. To prevent the 
crack from extending farther upward we may burn a trans- 
verse slot at the upper end of the crack, in as far as the leafy 
layer of the wall, or cut such a slot with a small hoof-knife. 


2. CLEFTS. 


An interruption of continuity of the wall, at right angles to 
the direction of the horn-tubes, is called a cleft. 

Clefts may occur at any part of the wall; yet they occur 
most often upon the inner toe and me eooe 
inner side, as a result of injury 
from sharp, improperly placed 
heel-calks (see page 173). How- 
ever, suppurating corns, or other 
suppurative processes situated at 
the coronet or which find their 
point of escape at the coronet, may 
from time to time lead to separa- 
tions of continuity and the forma- 
tion of horn-clefts. 

Horn-clefts, though the result 
of lesions which are often very 
injurious and interefere with the 
use of the horse, are of themselves 
not an evil which can be abolished 
or healed by shoeing, although, in many eases, proper shoeing 
would have prevented them. A horn-cleft is not a matter for 


INA. 


Hoof with clefts of the toe and side wall. 


204 HORSESHOEING. 


consideration by the shoer until it has grown down so far that 
it comes within the region of the nails. 

In order not to disfigure the hoof unnecessarily, the horn 
below the cleft should be kept in place as long as possible by 
shortening the wall at that point, to remove shoe-pressure, and 
by driving no nails into it. If, however, the horn is loose and 
about to come away, it should be removed and the defect filled 
with Defay’s patent horn-cement. 


3. LoosE WALL. 


Separation of the wall from the sole in the white line is 
called loose wall (Fig. 225, a). 

Occurrence.—Frequent on the fore-hoofs of shod and un- 
shod horses, and oftener upon the inner than upon the outer 
side. More rare on hind hoofs. Common-bred horses with wide 
and flat feet are predisposed to this trouble. 

We distinguish superficial and deep loose wall; only the 
latter requires the shoer’s attention, because it leads to lameness. 

OCauses.—Walls which are very oblique (slanting) ; outward 
bendings of the plantar border of the wall; burning the horn 
with hot shoes; dryness; neglected shoeing; excessive softening 
of the horn with poultices, particularly of cow-dung; careless- 
ness in preparing the bearing-surfaces of hoof and shoe in shoe- 
ing; uneven fitting of the shoe. 

Treatment.—It aims to remove the lameness and to favor 
growth of coherent horn. In the first place the removal of the 
exciting causes, followed by proper shortening of the wall. We 
should apply a shoe whose bearing-surface inclines slightly down- 
ward and inward, is perfectly smooth, and wide enough to cover 
the wall, white line, and outer border of the sole; the iron should 
be only moderately warm. Where there is lameness we use a 
leather sole with packing, or a bar-shoe. The loose wall should 
be freed from shoe-pressure only when it does not extend far 
along the white line. When the separation is extensive the loose 
wall should not be lowered. The crack should be filled with 
wood-tar, crude turpentine, or soft grafting-wax. 


HORSESHOEING. 205 


Tf a loose wall oceur upon the foot of a horse while running 
barefoot, all separated horn should be removed; if, on account 
of the nature of the ground, this seems to be impracticable, the 
hoof must be shod. 

Care of the Hoof.—Shoe at least every four to five weeks. 
Preserve the pliancy and toughness of the horn by judicious 
moistening. 


A Honmuow) WAGE, 


A hollow wall is one in which a separation has occurred be- 
tween the middle layer of the wall and the keraphyllous layer. 
This crack or separation 
always extends in the di- 
rection of the layers of 
the wall (Fig. 223, b). 

Occurrence.— Quite 
rare. 

We should suspect a i 
hollow wall when a part 4° Solos pores wy ialoe wa 
of the wall rounds out 
prominently beyond the rest, and gives forth a hollow (reson- 
ant) sound when struck. The white line presents a crack, yet 
we should hesitate to form a conclusion as to the extent of 
the separation from the extent of the crack along the white 
line, since the latter may be considerably smaller. The separa- 
tion extends higher up the wall than in the ease of loose wall, 
frequently to the coronet. The cavity is usually filled with 
crumbling, disintegrated horn. 

Hollow wall is not often accompanied by pain. Lameness 
may arise, however, if the hollow section of wall assists in 
bearing the body-weight, and if the animal does fast work 
upon paved streets. 

Causes.—Mechanieal influences resulting in chronic inflam- 
mation of fleshy leaves. 

Treatment.—A cure is possible, but requires considerable 
time. In shoeing, which should always aim to relieve pressure 


1aie, PE} 


206 HORSESHOEING. 


from the hollow section of wall, we cleanse the cavity and 
fill it with oakum and tar, crude turpentine, or wax. Where 
the separation is very extensive we use a bar-shoe. 

The time required for complete cure of hollow and loose 
walls will depend upon the height of the separation (see growth 
of the hoof, page 82). 


5. Turusyu or THE Frog. 


When the horny frog is ragged and fissured, and an ill- 
smelling, dark-colored liquid collects in the lacune of the frog, 
it is affected with thrush. When thrush exists uninterruptedly 
for several months the perioplic band is irritated and forms 
rings of periople which 
assume an irregular 
course and cross the 
rings of the middle 
layer of the wall (Fig. 
294), 

The causes: wn- 
cleanliness, too little 
exercise in fresh air, 
excessive paring of the 
frog, and the use of 
shoes with calks by 
: : which the frog is 
Hoof with irregular superficial rings resulting from thrush permanently removed 

of the frog. 
from the ground. 

The consequences are, besides contraction of the hoof, sore- 

ness in travelling, a shortening of the step, and, occasionally, 


well-marked lameness. 

Treatment.—Removal of all greasy horn from the frog, and 
of the prominent overgrown angles of the buttresses (see page 
100), thorough washing of the frog once or twice daily with a 
5 per cent. creolin or carbolic solution, abundant exercise, and 
shoes without calks. 


ee 


CHAPTER X. 


SHOEING MULES, ASSES, AND OXEN. 


1. The shoeing of mules and asses is, as in the case of 
horses, a necessity if these animals are to be used for draft 
or saddle purposes on hard streets. The structure and char- 
acteristics of the hoofs of these animals are quite similar to 
those of the horse, differing chiefly in the form and thickness 
of the wall. The mule hoof is long and narrow and round at 
the toe, the sole is well arched, and the 
side walls are rather steep (Fig. 225). 
In the ass the narrowness of hoof is still 
more pronounced, the wall is relatively 
thick, the frog is particularly well devel- 
oped in its branches, and therefore the 
hoof is relatively wide in the region of 
the quarters. The horn of both mule and 
ass 1s tough. 

The shoes differ from those of the 
horse in no other respect than that they 
should be lighter and narrower. Four 


Oe, PPAR. 


nail-holes are sufficient for an ass’ shoe, 
and five to six for a mule’s. 


On account of the hardness and tough- 4 ™ule’s oe ene 
.: ce). 


ness of the walls, we use nails that are 
short but strong in the shank; nails with weak shanks are apt 
to bend in driving. 

2. The shoeing of oxen is essentially different from that 
of horses, because the foot of the ox is cloven (split), the long 
pastern, short pastern, and hoof-bone are double, so that, in- 
stead of one hoof or claw, there are two upon each foot, dis- 
tinguished as outer and inner. Each claw consists of wall, 

207 


208 HORSESHOEING. 


sole, and bulbs; the frog is absent. The wall is considerably 
thinner than that of the horse’s hoof, the sole is thin, and the 
bulbs are low. or these reasons the shoe designed for a 
claw must be thin, but wide. 

The holes must be punched fine and the nails be quite 
short and strong. On each shoe a long tongue should be made 
on the inner edge near the toe, and so directed that it can be 
turned upward and outward to embrace the toe of the claw. 


A shod ox-claw. 


A small clip raised on the outer toe of each shoe will increase 
its stability. In some parts of Saxony the shoes are so made 
that the tongue of each shoe begins in the rear third of its 
inner edge and runs forward, upward, and outward, closely 
embracing the wall of the toe. The smaller clip is drawn up 
on the outer edge of the shoe close to the toe. These shoes 
are more difficult to make, but when applied sit more firmly 
and remain fast longer than all others. Machine-made ox 
shoes (Fig. 227) have no clip at the inner toe, and are fre 


HORSESHOEING. 209 


quently pulled and lost. For this reason they are inferior to 
hand-made shoes. An undivided shoe (the so-called ‘* closed 
claw-shoe”’) is unsuitable for oxen, because it deprives both 
claws of their natural, free movements. However, such a shoe 
is of advantage for heavy draft over hard and very rough 
roads, because it lessens the liability of the fetlock and coronary 
joints and the cleft of the claws to strains. 

Great difficulty is often encountered in holding the feet 
during the operation of shoeing. It is necessary to fasten the 
head securely against a tree, 
post, or wall. <A front foot 
may be raised and held by 
passing a slip-noose in the 
end of a rope or side-line 
around the fetlock and carry- 


aT 


a 


ing the line over the withers 
to the opposite side, where it 
is held by an assistant. A 
hind limb may be controlled 
by passing a round pole in 
front of the hock of the leg 


——. 


—— 


a 


UH 


im 


vy Uitlil 


ill jo 


to be raised, and, with a man ‘ 
at each end of the pole, carry- 

a . Pair of machine made ox shoes, viewed from 
ing the limb backward and the ground-surface and in profile; a, toe-calk; b, 
upward, in which position it °°" 

is held; or the limb may be bent and controlled by tightening a 
twitch or tourniquet upon the leg just above the hock (Fig. 
228). Oxen that continue to resist may sometimes be quieted 
by light blows of a short stick upon the base of the horns. In 
parts of the country where many oxen are shod stocks are in 


common use. 

Very satisfactory stocks have been designed by Gutenaecker, 

of Munich (Fig. 229). The four corner-posts (a, a, b, b) are 

eight inches square and eight feet long, of which three feet 
14 J 


210 HO RSESHOEING. 


four inches are solidly implanted in the ground. They are 
united by side- and cross-bars (c, ¢, d@). In front of the corner- 
posts (a, a) and in the middle lne stands a head-post (e) of 
the same dimensions as the corner-posts, provided with a slot 
four inches wide and twenty inches long beginning three feet 
from the ground. In this slot is a pulley-wheel (7), and below 
it a windlass (/) for winding up the rope which is tied around 
the base of the animal’s horns. The corner-posts are provided 
with a slot (n) three inches wide and three inches deep, 


Fie. 228. 


Ve 


= 


| =) aritin “i 
1] 7 Wi 
ey NR 


{ 
‘ 


Hind foot raised by means of a round pole. 


within which are placed two movable side-bars (0, p), which 
ean be set at desired heights and fastened by iron pins. Be- 
tween the front and rear corner-posts of the right-hand side is 
an eight-sided roller with a ratchet and click at one end, and 
having on one of the sides six iron hooks, to which a girth is 
attached. On the opposite side of the stocks, at the same 
height, is a stationary bar (f) with six hooks (g, g) on the 
outer side. The belly girth is six feet long, six inches wide, 
and terminates at both ends in several strong cords two feet 


HORSESHOEING. 211 


four inches long with iron rings at their ends. Between the . 
front corner-posts are a neck-yoke (h) and a breast-bar which 


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slide in the slots (m) and may be fixed at desired heights by 
iron pins. On the rear face of each rear corner-post is an iron 


212 HORSESHOEING. 


bracket (s) one foot and a half long, with a ring (¢) six inches 
in diameter, through which passes a round pole padded in the 
middle and kept in place by two iron pins. Above each bracket 
is a hook (w) to which the end of the breeching attaches. 

Before an animal is brought into the stocks the neck-yoke 
is raised, the breast-bar lowered, and the girth left hanging 
from the hooks on the stationary bar. The ox is then led into 
the stocks and the rope which is tied around the base of the 
horns is carried over the pulley (7), fastened to the hook on the 
roller (i), and wound up till the head is tight against the head- 
post. The yoke and breast-bar are then placed in position and 
fastened, the breeching hung on the hooks (wz), and the belly 
girth attached to the hooks on the roller, so that, if need be, it 
can be shortened till it bears the animal’s entire weight. 

To control a front foot a slip noose is placed about the fet- 
lock and the limb is raised and lashed to the side-bar, the rope 
passing finally to the hook (7). To control a hind foot a slip 
noose is placed about the fetlock, the foot carried upward 
and backward over the rear cross-bar, and, with the front sur- 
face of the fetlock-joint resting against the padding of the 
bar, the limb is firmly secured by wrapping the line several 
times about the limb and bar. 

When no stocks are at hand, we may use an ordinary farm 
wagon or a truck wagon. Tie the ox with his head forward 
between the front and hind wheels. Fasten the large end of a 
binding pole to the spokes of the front. wheel and let it rest on 
the hub. Swing the pole close to the ox and induce him to 
step over it with one hind leg, then raise the rear end of the 
pole, and with it the leg and so much of the animal’s hind 
quarters that the inner hind leg standing close to the wagon 
rests but lightly upon the ground. The binding pole may then 
be slung with a rope from the rack of the wagon or other 
stationary object and the outer limb held in the usual manner. 
By following this method a shoer with one assistant can easily 
and safely control the most refractory oxen. 


INDEX 


Apprentice, 14 Corns, 174 

Arteries, 41 treatment, 176 

Articulations, 21 Coronary band, 47 

joint, 31 

Balanced hoof, 101 ligaments, 31 

Balling with snow, 149 Cover-plate shoe, 173 

Bar-shoe, uses of, 164 Cow-hocked, 68 

Bare foot, preparing the hoof, 102 Cracks, 195 

Bars, 51 coronary and bar, 196, 202 
dressing, 99 plantar, 202 

Base-narrow position, 63, 68 Crest, semilunar, 27 

Base-wide position, 63, 68 Crooked hoof, 192 

Beaked shoe, 184 Cross-firing, 140 


Bear-foot, 72 


Bearing surface of shoes, 117, 127 Defay ’s shoe, 187 
Blood-vessels, 41 Diseases of hoof, 165 


Bow-legged position, 64 Dressing the hoof, 98 


Buttress, 100 Driving the shoe, 130 
Drop-forged shoes, 132 
Calf-kneed, 66 Dropped sole, 178, 182, 183 
Calk wound, 173 Elastic parts of foot, 38 
Camped behind, 68 Examination before shoeing, 90 
in front, 66 
Cannon bone, 20, 21 Feet, forms of, 69 
Carpus, 20 Femur, 20 
Cartilages, lateral, 39 Fetlock, ligaments of, 29 
Cast iron, 103 joint, 28 
shoes, 132 Fiber shoes, 134 
Chadwick spring, 187 Fibula, 20 
Clefts, 203 Flat hoof, 182 
Clinch cutter, 97 Fleshy frog, 49 
Clinching, 131 sole, 49 
Clips, 111 wall, 48 
Close nailing, burning, 166 Flight of hoofs, 72, 75 
Contracted hoof, 185 Foot, articulations of, 28 
sole, 190 bones of, 24 
Corn, chronic, 175 Foot-axis, 70 
dry, 174 relation to sole, 100 
suppurating, 174 straight and broken, 101 


213 


214 


Forging, 138 
Founder, 177 
dressing hoof, 179 
shoeing, 180 
Frog, 57 
dressing, 99 
Front shoe, making, 105 
Frost-nails, 146 
Full hoof, 183 
Fullering, 109 
hammer, 104 


Gathered nail, 170 


Hair-skin, 44 
Head, bones of, 17 
Heavy draught horses, shoeing, 125 
Heel-calks, 112 
always sharp, 154 
Heels, inflammation of, 176 
Hind shoe, making, 107 
Hock, 21 
Hollow wall, 205 
Hoof, 50 
benefits of movements within, 89 
crooked, 84 
growth of, 82 
healthy, 81 
irregular growth, 83 
knife, 98 
ointments, 159, 160 
physiological movements of, 86 
wear against shoe, 86 
wear of, 82 
Hoof-skin, 45 
Hoofs, care of unshod, 157 
Hoofs, forms of, 77, 80 
of colts, care of, 157 
Horn, minute structure of, 58 
qualities of, 59 
tumor, 181 
Horseshoeing, object of, 13 
schools, 15 


INDEX 


Horseshoer, requisites of, 14 
Humerus, 19 
Hunters, shoeing, 123 


Interfering, 142 
Tron for horseshoes, 103 


Joints, free, hinge, and pivot, 22 


Keraphyllocele, 181 
Knee-sprung, 67 


Laminitis, 177 

Leather sole, 164 

Ligaments, 21 

Limbs, standing positions, 62 
Loose wall, 204 

Low-jointed, 66 


Mucous burse, 35 
Mule shoes, 207 
Muscles, 22 


Nail holes, 110 
Nailing, 166 
causes of, 167 
examination and treatment, 167, 
168 
Nails, 128 
Navicular bone, 28 
Nerves, 44 
Nippers, 99 
Normal position, 62, 64, 67, 69 


Os pedis, 26 
Ox shoes, 208 
Oxen, securing feet, 209 


Pacers, shoeing, 124 

Pads, rubber, 135 

Pastern, long, 25 
short, 26 

Patella, 20 

Pedal joint, 31 
ligaments, 31 


INDEX 


Peg-calks, 150 

Peg toe-calks, 152 

Pelvis, 19 

Periople, 53 

Perioplic band, 47 

Periosteum, 21 

Pigeon-toed position, 64 

Pincers, 97 

Plantar cushion, 40 

Pododerm, 45 

Pododermatitis, symptoms of, 161 
treatment of, 163 

Podophyllous tissue, 48 

Podometer, 105 

Pricking, direct nailing, 166 

Pritchel, 105 

Protective organs of foot, 44 

Punch, 105 


Quarter crack, 200 
Quarters, contraction of, 186 


Radius, 20 

Raising feet in shoeing, 92 
Removing shoes, 97 
Rolled toe, 118 

Rope shoes, 133 

Rubber shoes, 134 
Runners, 123 


Saddle horses, shoeing, 122 
Scapula, 19 
Screw heel-calks, 148 
Seedy toe, 178 
Sesamoid bones, 25 
ligaments, 29-31 
Sharp toe- and heel-calks, 146 
Shod hoofs, care of, 159 
Shoe, choosing the, 116 
for acute-angled hoof, 114, 120 
for base-narrow hoof, 114, 121 
for base-wide hoof, 114, 121 
for narrow hoof, 115, 121 
for regular hoof, 114, 120 


Shoe, for stumpy hoof, 114, 120 
for wide hoof, 115, 121 
parts of, 103 
wear of, 84 
weight of, 116 

Shoeing defective hoofs, 161 

Shoes, fitting, 118 
general properties, 107 
machine, 132 
making, 103, 105 
nailing, 128 
removing old, 97 
shaping and fitting, 117, 120 
special properties, 114 

Sickle-hock, 68 

Side-bone, 194 

Sole, 55 
contraction of, 189 

Spinal column, 17 

Splint-bones, 20 
shoe, 172 

Standing under, 66 

Station of rest, 65 

Steel, 103 

Stocks, for horses, 95 
for oxen, 209 

Stifle joint, 20 

Stilt-foot, 184 

Street-nail, 170 

Stride, height of, 75 
length of, 75 

Stumpy hoof, 184 

Suspensory ligament, 29 

altering tension of, 36-38 

Synovia, 21 


Tendon, anterior extensor, 32 
deep flexor, 33 
lateral extensor, 32 
sheaths, 35 
superficial flexor, 33 
Tendons, 24 
Tension of tendon, altering, 36 


215 


216 


Thorax, 18 
Thrush, 206 
Tibia, 20 
Toe- and heel-calks, 112 
Toe-calk, blunt, 113 
half-sharp, 113 
sharp, 112 
Toe-crack, 197 
Tools for making shoes, 104 
Tread, 173 
Trotters, shoeing, 124 
Trunk, 17 
Tubbing and stopping, 159 


Ulna, 20 
Vachette hook, 199 


INDEX 


Veins, 43 
Velvety frog, 49 
sole, 49 


Wall, 51 
dressing, 99 — 
height of, 52 
leafy layer, 53 
protective layer, 53 
slant of, 52 
thickness of, 53 
Weight, influence of, 75 
Weights, side and toe, 77 
White line, 56 
Wide hoofs, contraction of, 189 
Wry hoof, 193 


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