The Art of
Shoeing Horses
5$
Win. J. IHoore
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y /££
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Webster Famiiy Library of Veterinary Medicine
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BALANCING
and SHOEING
Trotting and Pacing Horses
By
WM. J. MOORE
Allen Farm, Pittsfield, Mass.
NEW ENGLAND'S GREATEST NURSERY
OF SPEED
Cleveland, Ohio
Press of The Judson Printing Company
1916
Copyright 1916, by Wm. J. Moore
A TREATISE
ON-
THE ART OF SHOEING HORSES
INTRODUCTION.
This is a plain, unvarnished and practical treatise on
the art of balancing and shoeing trotting and pacing horses,
unclouded by little known technical and scientific words
and phrases, but written by the author, Wm. J. Moore:, in
his own every day words that can be easily understood by
any horseman.
Mr. Moore, who has spent his life in the business of
horse shoeing, was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1865,
and later had charge of the Horse Shoeing Department
of the Allen Farm at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, for a period
of over twenty years, and he is still so engaged at Allen
Farm.
Mr. Moore's experience as a horse shoer dates from
the time when he commenced work in a horse shoeing shop
as an apprentice, at the age of 16 years. Since which time
horse shoeing has been his sole occupation.
During this period of 35 years Mr. Moore has shod
many noted trotting and pacing horses, and his long, varied
and successful experience justifies the belief that no one is
better qualified to write on this subject, and to offer advice
in regard to it, than is he, and it is also the belief of those
best qualified to judge, that no work of this sort, heretofore
written, is more entitled to the confidence of, and accept-
ance by, the people who own trotting and pacing horses, for
whatever purpose they may be used.
With this short preamble in the way of an introduction,
we will let Air. Moore tell his readers in his own words and
in his own way how to shoe a trotter or a pacer, so that it
may do its best work in the easiest way, and for the greatest
benefit to its owner.
W. R. Allen,
Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
June, 1916.
INDEX
Page
I. Foals 1
II. Preparing the Foot 3
III. A Trotter Inclined to Single-foot and Pace ... 6
IV. Causes of Rough Gait 7
V. Shin-hitting in Front . • 8
VI. To Prevent Winging-in 8
VII. Shin-hitting Behind 9
VIII. Knee and Arm Hitting 10
IX. Shoeing a Knee-knocker 12
X. A Bad Hitter 13
XI. A Hitting Pacer 14
XII. Elbow Hitting 15
XIII. An Unusual Case 17
XIV. Paddling 17
XV. To Prevent Paddling 19
XVI. Hitching, Hopping and Running Behind. ... 19
XVII. Forging 21
XVIII. Scalping 23
XIX. Remedy for Scalping 23
XX. Sideweights 25
XXI. Wheel Swinging 26
XXII. Knuckling Over 27
XXIII. Stumbling 27
XXIV. Speedy Cutting 28
XXV. A Bad One 30
XXVI. Gaiting Colts 31
XXVII. Neglected Hind Feet 35
XXVIII. Knee Action 37
XXIX. Slow Get-away, Fast Finish 37
XXX. To Convert a Pacer 39
INDEX— Continued
Page
XXXI. Converting a Trotter 40
XXXII. Contracted Heels 41
XXXIII. Cause of Contracted Heels 43
XXXIV. Corns 43
XXXV. Toe Crack 44
XXXVI. Quartercrack 44
XXXVII. Dished Toe 46
XXXVIII. Concussion 46
XXXIX. Founder 48
Xly. Cross-firing Pacers 49
XIvI. Important Note 50
XLJI. Level Feet 52
XIvIII. Pulling on One Ivine 54
XLJV. A Judge of Gait 55
XIvV. Bar Shoes 55
XIvVI. Slipping . . . 57
XI, VII. Sideweight Shoes 58
XIvVIII. Toeweight Shoes 59
XIvIX. Pocket Weights 60
h. Interfering 60
Conclusion 63
THE ART OF SHOEING HORSES.
There is something in the foot of the horse that has
been a mystery to many who have been unable to find out
the secrets by reading some of the books that have been
printed on the different subjects, and experimenting on the
same, pertaining to a perfect balance of the trotter and
pacer when in action.
I have shod all kinds of horses and have come in con-
tact with all kinds of feet, and with the results gotten by
practical experiments, I will try to enlighten my readers
and the lovers of the light-harness horse.
I. FOALS.
The feet of the suckling foal should be properly fixed
every four or five weeks. After the foal is eight or nine
weeks old his feet need fixing regularly. To fix the feet
on the young foal shorten the toes as much as the foot will
stand without making the foot tender, and then rasp the
quarters down to a level with the frog, or a little lower than
the top of the frog will be better, then round the sharp
edges of foot off so as the foal will not cut his legs with
the sharp edges and the job is completed. Do not cut out
the bars, or the sole, or the frog. Now if you have noticed
that a foal stands toeing out, leave the inside of the toe of
that foot a little the longest from the coronet, an eighth or
three-sixteenths of an inch will be a benefit to the foot, also
to the line of action later on, and if the foal toes in, leave
the outside of the toe the longest, as it will help to straighten
matters in the line of action.
In fixing the foal's feet it is very good to rasp the
quarters and heels low enough so as to give a slight frog
pressure when the foot comes in contact with the ground.
Frog pressure assists expansion and prevents contraction;
a short natural foot with a slight frog pressure during the
first and second year is one of the surest ways to prevent
a bad gait or a ruptured tendon, in later years. Young foals
should have their feet picked out two or three times a week
to ventilate around the frog, because the filth that usually
gets lodged around there will be almost sure to cause heat,
and in consequence a diseased frog, which perishes away
and allows the heels to contract. A contracted foot is a
very bad thing and causes trouble in more ways than one.
If the feet on foals are left to grow too long, the inside
heels will cave in or become contracted from the position
they rest on them while grazing. To prevent this keep them
cut down, if not you will have to use hoof expanders to
get the foot back to its natural position.
One of the most important factors in keeping the feet
on sucklings, weanlings and yearlings in proper condition
as is specified in this article is to see that you are keeping
the leg in the middle of the foot, otherwise many a good
horse suffers, as the concussion and strain is not equally
distributed on both sides of the foot when in action. If the
feet on sucklings, weanlings, yearlings and two-year-olds
are kept properly fixed, quarters and heels kept low enough
so as to receive a slight frog pressure, this means at the
proper angle, you will not have any elbow hitters and very
few knee knockers. If you have a yearling that hits his
knees you have not kept his legs in the middle of his feet
by keeping his heels and quarters rasped down, which will
make it easier to prevent winging into his knees than if he
had a contracted inside quarter, which is the case when
neglected.
II. PREPARING THE FOOT FOR THE SHOE.
To fix feet is the most important part of shoeing the
horse. In fixing the foot, the first thing to take into con-
sideration is, what sort of work are you fixing the foot for,
is it for a draft horse, a road horse, or a trotter or a pacer?
Does the horse wing, paddle, speedy-cut or cross-fire, does
he hit his ankles, shins, knees, arms, hocks, or elbows? Is
his action too high or too low? Is he too long or too short
gaited? Is he striding longer with one leg than another?
If you go to work and cut the feet down without
taking some of these faulty things into consideration you
are liable to get his feet just to the reverse way to what
they should be, and place him in an uncomfortable position
instead of a comfortable one. In preparing the bottom of
a horse's foot you must bear in mind that the foot can be
fixed to straighten out different kinds of faulty action, and
if you have not learned it by a close study of experimenting
or by being taught by some one that knew all the different
ways of balancing a foot on the leg to correct faulty action,
then to learn this you will have to have it explained to you
and you should see the job executed, see it done, and then
go and see the results obtained, while the horse is in action.
Then you will know that something is accomplished by
scientifically fixing the feet to correct faulty action; you
have to show people nowadays.
Why I say that fixing the feet is the most important
part of shoeing, and the most difficult to get done, is be-
cause the farriers that can level and balance feet of rough
gaited trotters and pacers to assist nature in correcting
faulty action are very scarce, some of them cannot think
long enough while cutting with the rasp and knife, and the
first thing you know they have cut one side of the foot
too low and are not able to cut the opposite side on a level
to the side that was cut wrong.
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Now to fix the feet of a horse whether front or hind,
begin with the foot first that looks to be the highest at the
heels, because if you should start to fix two feet and one
foot is a good deal lower at the heels than the other you
cannot cut the heels of the foot that are the highest low
enough to place the foot at the same angle with its mate,
if you had fixed the foot that had the lowest heels first.
\ A good rule in fixing feet, and you will find it true
nine times out of ten, is, when fixing front feet, always
cut the outside from toe to heel down first, unless you are
shoeing a paddler, then cut the inside of the foot down to
a level to correspond with the outside that was fixed first.
The reason for fixing feet in this manner, is, if you should
cut the inside down first chances are you would not be
able to cut the outside to a level with the inside, for you
will cut to the sensitive part, on the outside of a front foot,
quicker than the inside, and it is just to the reverse with
hind feet. The front feet should not be left high on the
outside, unless the horse is a paddling gaited one, for it
creates friction, or a strain on landing and leaving the
ground, it also helps to create faulty action. Nearly all
the hard shin, knee and arm hitters I have come in contact
with, their front feet were highest on the outside, low on
inside, or a contracted inside quarter, and sometimes a
very badly contracted inside quarter at that. To fix front
feet of trotters and pacers for different purposes or ways
of going you can refer to the index on the different sub-
jects in this book.
There is very little attention paid to the hind feet.
They try to get them the same length and angle, but there
are very few hind feet properly fixed to control a per-
fect line of action, to lengthen or shorten the stride, to
close or widen the action or to elevate or lower the action.
There are very few floormen that can level and balance a
hind foot. In preparing it for a shoe to correct faulty
action, the majority of them do not know how to hold the
leg to look at the bottom of the foot to tell which side is
highest. They should keep in mind while fixing the foot,
the results they are trying to get; if they do not, they are
liable to get the foot too low on one side or the other.
A hind foot that is left the highest on the inside is a dan-
gerous weapon to a trotter or pacer; it will cause injury to
ankle ligaments and to bones of the foot. In the majority
of cases the angle of a hind foot should be several degrees
shorter than the angle of the front feet. A hind foot that
is left the highest on the inside on a trotter or pacer will
have a tendency to close up the line of action of the hind
leg and create crossfiring and shin, hock, ankle and pas-
tern hitting. As the coffin or pedal bone of a horse's foot
is symmetrical in shape, it is not proper to have wings of
abnormal growth more on one side of the foot than on the
other, for this constitutes an unbalanced foot. If it
measures more on one side of the foot than on the other,
from the center of the frog, make both sides alike, to
balance up matters and to conform with the shape of the
coffin bone inside; if the toe of one foot is longer than
that of the other it creates a longer leverage to leave the
ground from, therefore the stride of that leg would natu-
rally be a little longer, everything else being equal. If the
heels of one foot are left higher than those of its mate,
the stride would be a little shorter and the jar or concus-
sion greater. A good rule in fixing hind feet is, always
cut or rasp the inside of foot down first, because you can
always get the outside of a hind foot cut down to the level
of the inside. A foot should be fixed so that the leg will
be kept in the middle of the foot. If the foot has a con-
tracted quarter, one side or the other, you cannot do it
until the contracted quarter is expanded, which is easily
done (see article on contracted feet). It is difficult to fix
feet to suit the leg, and line of action, and also some people's
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eye, all at the same time. The frog of the horse's foot
should never be cut, if it is in a healthy state. A diseased
frog that has loose fragments hanging to it may be trimmed
off so as not to be holding filth. Never cut the heels open
with a knife or rasp to make the foot look wider across the
heels, a practice that has long existed with some people. It
is unnatural, it helps to contract the heels, and shortens the
bearing surface from toe to heel. Any one that does this
is dangerous. Trimming out the frog, opening the heels
with the knife, cutting out the bars, and too much of the
sole, will give you a hoofbound and contracted sore-footed
horse, it will help to shorten up his gait and sometimes
make him rough gaited. Feet of this kind cannot stand
the jar or concussion that feet can that have been properly
treated.
III. A TROTTER INCLINED TO SINGLEFOOT
AND PACE.
The first thing to do is to change the angle of his
front feet to a longer one by rasping the quarters and heels
down several degrees, do not take anything off the toes.
The hind feet should be in length and angle nearly the
same as the front feet, perhaps an eighth of an inch shorter
at the toe, and within 3 degrees of the same angle. The
second thing is to add about 3 or 4 ounces more weight to
the front shoes, and a little more if needed, after you have
tried the former. If the horse carries a toe weight put
it on also. The third thing to do is to put calks on the
hind shoes, toe and heel, using as light a shoe as possible.
The fourth thing to do is to allow the animal to go as
low headed as possible, this is very important. The changes
in the footing of different tracks will sometimes cause a
horse to become all unbalanced. Slipping is very bad for a
horse when at speed ; it unbalances the action and creates
muscle soreness, and the poor animal is made to suffer tor-
-6-
ture by some of the drivers or trainers, because the animal
does not perform as well on a track that don't suit the shoe-
ing as he did on a previous occasion that did suit, the same
way shod. I must say in reference to trotters that are
inclined to single foot and pace that in fixing the hind feet
I would prefer to get the angle of the hind feet as near to
the angle of the front feet as possible, because it helps to
confine them to the pure trot. The shorter the toe and
angle of the hind feet as compared with the front, the
quicker they will go into a singlefoot and pace. The causes
of the roughness in the gait of the trotter are that the feet
are at too short an angle, not carrying weight enough in
front, and checked too high, or slipping too much.
IV. CAUSES FOR BECOMING ROUGH GAITED.
The front feet or the hind feet are not mates, or
high heels on one foot and low heels on the opposite; they
are cut too low on one side to hang level compared with
the opposite side of the same foot, a long toe on one
foot and a short toe on the opposite foot; these variations
create a different angle, when it should be the same; that
is, the front feet should be mates and the hind feet should
be mates. Cutting out the frog, bars and sole, and open-
ing the heels with the knife will also lead to a rough gait
when the foot is dry and hard, and the horse strikes a
hard track at speed. Carrying head too high, too low,
or to one side, or pulling on bit too strong will do the
same thing.
After fixing the front feet as directed, do not leave
the heels on the hind feet high or the toes of the hind
feet too short, fix the hind feet by leaving the toes long
enough and the heels low enough to create an angle to
within a few degrees the same as the front feet. This
will prevent breaking over too quick which increases the
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liability to singlefoot, and fixing hind feet this way
lengthens the stride and helps to confine the action to the
trot longer and purer.
V. SHIN HITTING OF THE FRONT LEGS.
A foot left too high on the outside from centre of
toe back to the outside heel will cause this. Some travel
very close and others wing in : this winging in is not al-
ways because of an imperfect or unbalanced foot, some-
times it is caused by a deformity of the leg, or a con-
traction of the muscles or ligaments, sometimes they will
be either longer or stronger on one side of the leg than
on the other, which has a tendency to control winging
or paddling. To fix a foot that is hitting the shins of
the front legs, shorten the toe to a natural length foot,
while doing this keep lowering the outside of the foot,
leaving the inside of the foot quite a bit higher, by actual
measurement, in some cases a quarter of an inch higher or
longer is not too much. Shoe with a plain shoe or a side
weight shoe with the heavy side of shoe on the inside of
each foot, the heavy or wider side of the shoe will pre-
vent sinking in the ground, which will help matters. Bevel
or hot rasp the inside edge of shoe from the inside toe
back to the quarters. Shoe with the weight that the horse
goes best with.
VI. HOW TO MAKE A SHOE TO PREVENT
WINGING IN.
Make a heavy side weight shoe, the same kind of
shoe as for a paddler but the weight or heavy side of
shoe will have to be on the inside of the foot. Fix the
feet, according to article in this book on winging in, to
receive this shoe. Bevel or round off the inside toe back
to quarters on this shoe. With the foot properly fixed
for this shoe there will be an immediate change. If a
toe weight is used keep spur towards inside toe from
centre of foot but not far enough to hit knee boot.
VII. SHIN HITTING OF THE HIND LEGS.
There are different causes for this trouble. In the
trotter it is because the hind action and the front action
do not work in harmony with one another. Excessive
hind action will cause it, or excessive front action in some
cases will cause it. A front foot that is highest or longest
on the outside toe will cause it. What will cause it the
quickest and more severely is a high inside on the hind
foot, especially on a horse that has been going open gaited
behind. If your horse has plenty of action in front and is
going in a medium light shoe I would advise you to level
his hind feet; be sure and do not have the inside of hind
teet the highest (which is nearly always the case), but if
anything have it a shade the lowest, and shoe the hind
feet with an outside weight shoe several ounces heavier
than he has been carrying ; this will widen his hind action
and when he gets to going the weight will keep him out-
side and clear. This weight can be decreased as his gait
is being perfected. The most particular part of this will
be to get his feet properly prepared to help the line of
action.
Perhaps your horse is short in his front action, low
and dwelling gaited, too much so for his hind action, if
so, shoe him in front with heavier shoe, say 5 ounce
heavier or even more as the case may need, bevel or roll
the toe, also bevel the outside edge from the outside toe
to heel of front shoes where the shin hitting is done. If
your horse wings in towards his knees or arms, the inside
of front feet should be left the highest. I prefer in shoe-
ing such horses to keep them going as close in line as pos-
-9-
sible with hind legs and if he cannot, without interference,
then they will have to go outside (see article on how to
widen hind action).
VIII. KNEE AND ARM HITTING.
This has been a great worry to "the smart set," "the
know it alls" for many years, as to what causes it, and
what to do to help or prevent it. Winging in is caused
sometimes by a deformity, or by contracted muscles or
ligaments strongeron one side of the leg than on the other;
sometimes deformed feet, or a badly contracted inside quar-
ter will be the cause of some of this trouble, because the
weight of the horse at the ankle drops over the inside heel
instead of coming down in the middle of the foot. A con-
tracted inside quarter and a high or long outside toe are
dangerous weapons for a horse to be carrying, one of these
at a time is bad enough, but when a foot is troubled with
both it is very bad. If your knee or ami hitter has a con-
tracted quarter on a front foot, the first thing to do is to
get a hoof expander and expand the contracted quarter.
This will be an important step towards getting the leg in
the middle of the foot. In all my experience with knee and
arm hitters I have found the offending foot too high on the
outside, with the most of the foot from the center of the
frog on the outside of the leg. With height and width of
foot on the outside of the leg, it is just contrary to science.
To straighten the line of action this needs to be reversed ;
edge up the outside edge of the foot from the outside toe
to the point at quarters as much as it will stand, do it at
every shoeing and you will be getting the leg closer to the
middle of the foot. If you can get a little more of the foot
on the inside of the leg than is on the outside, it will be a
benefit to a bad knee and arm hitter. Another thing, the
shorter the toe or angle of a knee hitter the easier he can
leave the ground and the less he will wing in, and the lighter
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will be the blow if he hits. The knee hitter should be shod
as lightly as he will go at speed, balanced. The lighter the
weight he is carrying the lighter the blow if he strikes.
The best kind of a shoe for a knee-hitter is a side weight
shoe with the heavy side on the inside of the foot; good
results are obtained with heel and toe calks, the toe calks
well set back on the toe of the shoe.
These calks on the shoe of a knee and arm hitter
should be a little thin so as to catch hold of the ground as
the foot goes to twist before he picks it up ; they will pre-
vent a certain amount of twisting while the body of the
animal is gliding over the weight-bearing portion of the
leg as the foot leaves the ground. They will have a ten-
dency to make him break over squarer and not so hard on
the outside toe as the foot is leaving the ground. Now if
your knee-hitter wears a toe weight attach it towards the
inside toe as far as possible but not far enough to the
inside so as he will strike the opposite leg with it. When
the feet of a knee-hitter have been gotten in the shape as
described herein and shod accordingly; why, the horse will
think that he has been baptized and born over again. A
perfect foot is rare, but with good judgment, a good eye and
a little patience and perseverance a lot can be accomplished
that will surprise some of those that think they know it
all. In a knee hitter, also in an arm hitter, the bones of the
foot and leg do not work true in their sockets, clear up to
the knee, even the joint at the knee does not work true, the
knee joint has a faulty motion, instead of breaking straight
forward, it breaks out sideways as the rest of the leg
starts to wing in. By building the foot mostly to the inside
of the leg and having width and height of foot on the
inside you are taking some of the power away that causes
the winging in, and the breaking outward of the knee.
It is something strange, but I have known knee and shin
and arm hitters to be turned out with their shoes on in
paddocks, and you would seldom see them hurt themselves,
but put the harness on, hitch them up, and start them at
speed and take a pull of 75 or 100 pounds on their lower
jaw and the trouble would begin. The directions in this
article for fixing the foot for knee and arm hitting are
also the surest remedy for horses that toe out badly, a
fault that is so objectionable to all horsemen. If you use
a sideweight shoe on a front foot to prevent shin, knee and
arm hitting, the heavy part of shoe should be on the inside
of foot, but if you leave the outside of the foot one-sixteenth
or one-eighth of an inch higher than the inside, you will
be working against the results you are looking for.
It looks strange to many people that an outside-weight
shoe to a front foot has a tendency to make a horse wing
in, and the same shoe applied to a hind foot will widen
the hind action, with the foot fixed for that purpose. If
you can fix the foot properly to control the line of action
that you want, you will surely accomplish something. You
should know what angle suits the action best. The foot
should be symmetrical in shape to conform with the coffin
bone, have no more foot on one side of the frog than on
the other side, and the bearing surface to hang so as the
foot will land on and leave the ground as square or level as
possible.
IX. JOGGING A KNEE KNOCKER WINTER AND
SPRING, AND THE BEST WAY TO SHOE
AND FIX THE FOOT TO DEVELOP
THE MUSCLES.
Lower the outside of the foot of the winging in leg,
and keep it the lozvest. Shoe the foot with a very light
shoe, plain or bar shoe, have a side pocket weight made that
will carry from 6 to 9 ounces of lead with a spur on it; cut
or burn a hole in the bottom edge of the foot midway be-
tween toe and heel for the spur, buckle it tight to foot, the
-12-
weight to be on inside of foot. Tf the horse wings in with
both front feet use the pocket weights on both feet and fix
both feet as directed above. This will have a wonderful
effect in developing muscle while taking his slow work that
will help to prevent winging in so bad when he begins faster
work. This knee knocker should be shod with a side
weight shoe, the heft of weight on inside of foot, shoe
should be very light on outside. This shoe should be made
thick on inside with a bevel thinned towards the outside
toe, a difficult shoe to make to be used when pocket weights
are discarded for fast work.
X. A BAD SHIN, KNEE AND ARM HITTER.
TROTTER.
A chronic shin, knee and arm hitter was a horse called
Rustler, owned at Richmond, Va. In the early part of the
summer that he raced so well, he was working miles
around 2:41 and 2:42 but very unsteady, breaking con-
tinually. He would begin by hitting his shins, as speed
was increased he would hit his knees and arms so hard that
he would not stay on the trot. He was brought to me to
shoe by his colored groom, who also brought his boots, as I
had never seen the horse in action, but after seeing the
boots he wore, I saw at a glance he needed as far as gaiting
or balancing was concerned, to be regenerated. He was a
large horse, and his feet had not grown much from the
last shoeing so as I could change them to my liking. I was
informed that he went best in light shoes, but the owner
told me to use my own judgment, so I did. I made a pair
of sideweight shoes, 18 ounces with toe and heel calks, the
heavy side of shoes on the inside of each front foot, the
outside of each front shoe as light as possible. After level-
ing his hind feet, a light shoe with heel calks was put on.
The owner, Mr. C. J. Smith of Richmond, Va., came to the
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shop and looked at the front shoes and did not like the job,
as to the weight and the calks, thinking if he did not knock
a leg off, he would cut boots and legs to smithereens. I
told him I would change them if he thought it best, but
before I got ready to take them off he said leave them on
and I will try them and see what he will do with them.
The groom drove him out to the track, and Mr. Smith,
being present, ordered the groom to drive him a slow mile
as the trainer was not there ; he worked the second mile so
easy that he was worked another easy mile in 2:21, the
last quarter well within himself in 33 seconds without a
break, over the same half-mile track on which he could
not beat 2:41 previous to this shoeing. They said when
he got on his stride there was nothing the matter with him.
I had not heard from the horse for nearly a week when
one day as the owner was driving by I hailed him asking
how was Rustler, he said "he is all right, there isn't a thing
the matter with him." He went to the races, started in
at Baltimore, Maryland, and after winning seven or eight
consecutive races, finished at Readville a close second in
2:12. Most of his races were won in the same front
shoes it took to balance him, and yet some writers will say
you cannot get immediate results.
XI. SHIN, KNEE AND ARM HITTING PACER.
H. J. Rockwell and Rustler a pacer and trotter re-
spectively, would hit and cut their boots something terrible.
I took H. J. Rockwell away from his knees by the mode of
foot fixing and shoeing hereinbefore prescribed and that
made a race horse of him, whereas he had been hitting his
knees for several years. While he was hitting his knees he
was rated as a quitter, but after he began to beat horses
like "B. B." over the half-mile tracks, the race followers
wanted to know from his trainer, the late F. M. Dodge,
-14-
what he had done to him. I mention this particular case
because the public or horsemen that knew this horse knew
he was a tough proposition to balance.
XII. ELBOW HITTING.
Some horses do this when being speeded. It is caused
bv excessive knee action, in folding up of the leg, also in
the flexing of the pastern joint. It is faulty or lost action.
For elbow hitting, as a rule, the horse should be made to go
in as light a shoe as possible, he should get his training
with his front feet kept as low as possible at the quarters
and heels and the foot at an angle of about 49 degrees, he
should be shod as light as possible with plain or bar shoes,
and with as light a toe -weight as possible, for the more toe
weight he carries the harder he will go to his elbows. Most
all elbow hitters hit their elbows with the toes of the shoe
while the knee is being elevated. It would be a hard matter
for a horse to hit his elbows with the heels of the shoes
with the knee extended and elevated, for at this time is
when the fold of the knee and flexing of the pastern causes
the toe of the shoe to strike against the elbow. If prepar-
ing the foot for the shoe as stated above and shoeing the
feet light does not stop the elbow hitting apply a bar shoe
with most all the weight in the bar and quarters of the
shoe, the shoe being light as possible around the toe where
the nail holes are punched. Be sure and have the quarters
and heels as low as possible. The reason for low quarters
and heels on an elbow hitter is, that it makes a longer angle
to leave the ground from, and it gives a longer bearing
surface behind the leg, to receive the weight that is in the
quarters and bar of the shoe which is put there to prevent
some of the folding of the knee and some of the flexing of
the pastern that causes the interference. I have been very
successful shoeing elbow hitters with this kind of a shoe.
All elbow hitters should be worked to go as low headed as
-15-
possible, a standing martingale works well on some. If
you put on too much of a toe weight on some horses that
go close to their elbows it will drive their action to, or
against their elbows. Now this being the case, if toe
weights will drive him to his elbows a heel weight will
usually prevent folding against the elbows.
Now in making this shoe for an elbow hitter it will be
necessary to add from four to six ounces more weight to
the shoes than he has been carrying, but put it all in the
quarters and bar at the heels, and keep adding weight to
the heels of front shoes until he stops hitting his elbows.
This kind of a shoe is to be used when a very light shoe
fails to prevent elbow hitting. Squaring the toe of the
shoe will also help to lighten the blow, or take him that
much farther away from his elbows.
To decrease the lofty folding action of elbow hitters
the foot should be placed at an angle of from 47 to 49
degrees or as near to that as possible, and add the amount
of weight of shoes he has been carrying to the toe weight
and also add not less than four or five ounces more to each
of a pair of heel weight shoes, when a light one did not
answer. Do not use any toe weight, but if the heel weight
bar shoes are not heavy enough, a heavier shoe or quarter
boot can be used.
One thing that should not be overlooked in a horse
hitting his elbows is his hind action, it should be examined
closely. The hind action may be too dwelling gaited, the
stride may be too short or too long. Now if the hind action
is of a sluggish nature, it will be a benefit to increase his
propelling power, it will drive his elbow an inch, more or
less, away from the flexing of the foot against it. If he is
long and dwelly gaited you can quicken or make him more
rapid, if he is striding too short you can lengthen his stride
by fixing his feet and applying weight. It is very important
to increase his propelling power. A horse that hits his
-16-
elbows needs to be balanced by foot fixing, and the applying
of weight to go on as light a line as possible, because the
harder he pulls on the bit when at speed the more he is
inclined to hit his elbows.
If the hind stride is too long and d welly, shorten the
hind toes considerably and use a square toe shoe and raise
the heels with a side calk. If the hind stride is too short
lower the quarters and heels of the hind feet as much as
they will stand and add two or three ounces more weight
to the hind shoes. With toe and heel calks a horse with a
long cannon bone, with lofty action that flexes his foot
from the ground with a snap is more likely to hit his elbows
than a horse with shorter cannon bones.
XIII. AN UNUSUAL CASE OF ELBOW
HITTING.
A horse that hits the right elbow with the left foot and
the left elbow with the right foot is seldom seen. The
horse Hunter Hill would begin doing this when going at a
2:40 gait or better, and would act bad and unsteady. He
was brought to me to shoe and I was told he could not
carry any weight. As he had not enough foot to change, I
told the trainer he would have to carry weight to counteract
the faulty winging in to the elbows. I made a pair of
eighteen ounce heavy side weight shoes with the weight on
the inside of each front shoe, thin heel and toe calks, toe
calks well set back on toe of front shoes. These shoes
took him away from his elbows and he raced good over the
half-mile tracks stepping miles around 2:12. After he got
gaited these side-weight shoes were discarded for plain
lighter shoes.
XIV. PADDLING.
Just the reverse to winging in, a tiresome lost motion,
a source of worry to horse and driver, especially if the
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horse has speed and is driven on sharp turns on half-mile
tracks, but it is not as dangerous as the winging in hard
to knees. Paddling is more easily controlled than winging
in. Now to straighten the paddler, fix the foot on the leg
that paddles, by cutting or rasping the inside of the foot
from the inside toe back to the inside heel as low as pos-
sible, leaving the outside toe the highest or longest to leave
the ground from. Be sure and have the inside of foot the
lowest, the outside toe the longest. To begin this an angle
close to 50 degrees or less, say 49, will have wonderful
effect. The long or high toe on the outside will have a
tendency to make the leg wing towards his knees at speed
which is the controlling influence against paddling. The
long or high outside toe is the part that has to leave the
ground the last, which creates winging, and helps to stop
paddling. To shoe a paddler, shoe with a light shoe, with
as little weight as possible to go balanced. The more
weight the more he will paddle, the less weight the less
paddle.
The best shoe for a bad paddler is a side-weight shoe
extra heavy on the outside of foot, bevel the outside edges
of front shoes good. If the change of action is not quick
enough you can use a toe weight placed on the foot well
to the outside toe of foot. When I could not get the inside
of foot low enough compared with the outside of foot I
have made the front shoes thicker on the outside than the
inside. When you have fixed the feet and shod a paddler
this way you will begin to think that paddling can be stopped
when at speed. Most paddlers must go as light in front as
possible. With the feet fixed and shod as herein stated
you will be surprised at the change of action that will
take place when at speed, after a week's driving. The faster
the paddler is driven the less paddling he will be doing.
The outside of the foot on a paddler needs to be kept the
highest, which is just to the reverse of a knee and arm
-18-
hitter, this applies to the front feet and action of the front
legs.
XV. HOW TO MAKE A SHOE TO PREVENT
PADDLING.
Take a piece of iron or steel two or three ounces
heavier than the shoe the horse has been carrying and draw
one end of it very light having it quite thin. Make a heavy
outside weight shoe of it, leaving all the thickness at the
outside toe of shoe, thin the outside heel down to the
same as the inside heel. The outside edge of this shoe will
be thick, but tapering thin to the inside edge of the outside
web of shoe. This shoe begins to get light, narrow and
very thin at centre of toe around to inside heel. Look up
article on foot fixing to prevent paddling at speed when
using this shoe. The horse's foot will have to leave the
ground from the outside toe of this shoe when stepping
fast and this will have a tendency to make him wing in,
and the line of action will become straighter as the animal
becomes accustomed to it. This change can be quite radical,
on a horse that has been paddling a long time, and not so
rank on young stock just beginning to get gaited. This
shoe does not stop the paddling on all animals when jog-
ging slow as the foot can leave the ground or break over
from center or inside toe of shoe, which has no control to
prevent a slight paddle.
XVI. HITCHING, HOPPING OR RUNNING
BEHIND.
This way of going comes from different causes. An
unbalanced foot from being improperly fixed, will cause it.
The improper weight of shoes at one end or the other, or
all around, will cause it; speeding a colt or horse that is
pulling too much weight, especially up a grade, will cause
it; forging, scalping, speedy-cutting, shin and hock hitting
will cause it; carrying the head to one side at times will
cause it; soreness of the back, rump or muscles of whirl-
bone, stifle or thigh will cause it.
Examine the faulty leg for soreness, for if the horse
is not lame from soreness somewhere, he can be balanced
to go true. If a horse begins hitching, his fast work should
be stopped until he is properly balanced, for no horse can
improve his speed after he becomes rough gaited without
danger to himself. The first thing to do is to get him
balanced. First, see that his feet are level. Nine times
out of ten you will find his feet are not mates or do not
hang level, you will find the foot on the offending leg that is
doing the damage different from its mate. In all my expe-
rience I have found the foot on the faulty gaited leg to be
very high on the inside, if not at the toe, it would be at the
heel, but the majority of times it would be high from toe
to heel, which would be the main cause of the hitching.
Fix the front feet to hang level, the angle and length of
toes the same. The two hind feet should be at the same
angle and have the same length of toe. The foot of the
faulty going leg should be made the lowest on the inside
and the shoe to be used on this foot must weigh double the
weight or from one to three ounces more than double the
weight of the one on the opposite hind foot. This shoe
can be made with the weight in the outside, with the inside
edge from the centre of toe back to the inside quarter
rounded or beveled off considerably, fit the shoe full to the
outside toe. If the hitching horse is shod according to these
directions and does not begin to go better gaited, it is be-
cause he is lame. If he carries five ounce shoes behind put
twelve or thirteen ounce on the faulty gaited leg and the
light shoe on perfect gaited leg.
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XVII. FORGING.
This is a very annoying fault and the same rules to
remedy it do not apply to all horses, for what will stop one
may not stop another. Most all forging will be done jog-
ging, or going an ordinary road gait. From forging comes
the scalping which is very dangerous when the horse begins
to brush along, as scalping creates rough and bad gaited
horses. There are many horses that will forge or scalp
going slow in the same shoes that suit them for speed. It
is hard to shoe all horses with a set of shoes that will suit
the horse, the driver and a faulty gait at varying rates of
speed, all at the same time. Horses that are low gaited in
front that forge jogging, need as a rule, a lot more weight
in their front shoes. Horses that go high gaited with lots
of knee action in front that forge require a light shoe.
Forgers usually have excessive action either in front or
behind. Locate the faulty end, see if the horse has too
much action in front and not enough behind, or if he has
too much behind and not enough in front. Get a line on
his gait before you make any changes, perhaps you may
not have to change but one end of him to either increase
or decrease action. Weight in the shoe is the important
factor applied to a perfectly balanced foot, whether it is a
front foot or a hind foot. You can add weight to the front
or hind feet, as may be desired, to increase action, or de-
crease the weight to decrease the action at either end. Now
right here I will say, a horse jogging hardly feels a change
of weight of one, two or three ounces, but will show the
effect of five or six ounces from the start. Do not be afraid
to apply a heavy shoe to hind feet for if his action re-
quires it to prevent forging, the horse will like it better
and so will you.
In adding weight to hind feet you will be increasing
the hock action and in some horses it will take considerable
weight to do it; horses going an ordinary road gait will
-21-
not feel one, two or three ounces increase of weight in
hind shoes. Horses stepping fast as a rule do not do any
forging and, of course, the lighter they can go the better.
There are many horses — fast trotters — that forge or scalp
jogging, that would go cleaner or purer by applying a four-
ounce toe weight, some may need a five-ounce weight, lots
of them have to be jogged too fast in order to prevent
forging or scalping, when perhaps a toe weight would be
the remedy. A horse going a 2:10 gait will feel the effects
of a one or two ounce weight as much as one going a slow
gait would feel the effects of four or five ounces.
Take a side view of your horse as he is driven by and
locate the faulty action, you will be able to tell if it is too
short, too long, too high or too low, too rapid or too dwelly,
front or hind action. If the lost action is in front as to
height, extension or rapidity, fix the feet to help the shoes
to perfect the action. If the front action is too low shorten
the toes, leave the heels high or raise them with shoe or
side calks and shoe with a shoe five or six ounces heavier,
more or less, as the action requires, use a square or bevel
toe shoe. A rolling toe shoe is good on slow-going horses,
the horse should carry his head higher than usual. If the
front action is too high, lower the quarters and heels as
low as they will stand, and shoe with a light shoe, and if
there is not extension enough use a toe weight to balance
up action, the horse should carry his head lower, or natural.
If the hind action is too low shorten toes as much as they
will stand and add several ounces more weight and raise
the heels a half inch or more. If hind action is too high
lower quarters and heels as low as they will stand, keeping
plenty of toe on hind feet and shoe with a very light shoe
to prevent slipping. If he is handling his hind legs too
rapid for the front ones, this last sentence will remedy that
also. I have seen obstinate forgers at a slow gait stopped
by carrying from two to three times more weight on the
hind feet than in the front feet, and vice versa, according
to their front or hind action.
-22-
XVIII. SCALPING.
This is a very dangerous fault. When a horse is mak-
ing speed and begins scalping, he is unbalanced quite bad,
he needs changing before being speeded again for if you
don't he or she will get rough gaited, or will begin carrying
the hind leg between front ones, hopping, or trying to run
with hind action. The first thing to do is to examine the
hind feet, you are likely to find the hind feet a lot higher
on the inside than on the outside nine times out of ten.
Some horses will begin scalping after their feet get too
long. In horses with excessive action, carrying too much
weight in front will cause scalping at speed. Horses with
very little action in front and not carrying weight enough
will be liable to scalp at speed. When shoeing for scalping
use a square toe shoe, light or heavy, as may be required
by the front action.
Feet all out of proportion and at the wrong angle and
not level will cause scalping. Now if the animal has very
little hock action and mostly stifle action, I would lower
and shorten the toes of the hind feet as much as possible,
use a square toe shoe and raise the heels with a side calk,
this will shorten the stride and by adding some weight to
the hind shoe it will increase hock action. Most all scalp-
ing is done with front or outside toe of the front shoe
coming in contact with the coronet of hind foot. It hurts
the horse so much that he will try to find some way to
avoid it ; some trainers use a gaiting pole to prevent the
horse from going crooked in the shafts because of this fault.
XIX. REMEDY FOR SCALPING.
If the front action is low, long and of a sluggish nature,
shorten the toes of feet considerable and add about five
ounces more weight to the shoes, or more, if required to
create a more lofty knee fold. The action of some horses
-23-
requires a lot more weight than others to make the change.
The shoes to be used, if working to make speed should be
a square toe shoe, or a beveled toe shoe, also a wedged
shaped shoe thick at the heels and thin at the toe is good,
squared at the toe. For ordinary road driving a rolling toe
shoe is good, but not for extreme speed, as it has a ten-
dency with most horses to slip back too much on leaving
the ground ; and the horse should be made to carry his
head higher than usual. If the front action is high, short,
or too rapid, not working in harmony with the hind, lower
the quarters and heels of front feet as much as they will
stand and keep a fair length toe on the front feet and shoe
with a very light shoe and use a toe weight to balance for
extension, place a spur for toe weight well up on toe of foot
out of way of the scalping ; and the horse should be made
to go as low headed as is comfortable to him.
If the hind action is low, long or of a dwelling nature,
shorten the toes as much as they will stand, and shoe, to
elevate the heels, with a thick heel shoe, or raise the heels
with side calks. A few ounces more weight than he has
been carrying will be all the better to make him use his
hocks more. If the hind action is high and choppy with
not much extension, lower quarters and heels as much as
they will stand and keep a fair length toe on him, it will
keep him closer to the ground ; and shoe light to prevent
slipping.
A side view of the animal as he is driven by you will
give you the correct view of his front and hind action. If
the action is too short, too long, too high or too low, in
front or behind, the chances are you may not have to change
but one end of him if you have a good eye for locating
faulty action. If your horse is good and can beat his record,
or go the race of his life, and scalps jogging, try a toe
weight on him in front, if it does not stop him wear scalpers
on him jogging and let well enough alone.
-24-
I have had to take a three and one half ounce shoe oft"
a colt that trotted eighths of a mile in seventeen and a
quarter seconds, that was scalping jogging, and shoe him
with a ten and a half ounce heel weight shoe nailed back
near quarters of hind feet to prevent him from scalping at
the jog, after two changes in the front shoeing.
XX. SIDEWEIGHTS.
Sideweight shoes with the weight on the outside have
a different effect or result on front and hind action. An
outside-weight shoe on a front foot has a tendency to make
the leg wing in, and an outside weight shoe on a hind foot
will widen and lengthen the stride, if feet are properly
prepared, so you see it widens the hind action and closes the
front action. To close the action of the front leg with this
sideweight, lower the front foot on the inside. To widen
the action of hind leg, lower the inside of hind feet. This
sideweight shoe will help a paddler that has to carry a little
weight, if you will lower the inside of the foot, but it is
no good for a knee knocker. The outside-weight shoe has
a different effect on front and hind action, has a tendency
to close one and widen the other.
Sidewreight shoes are good to correct the following
faulty lines of action if the feet are correctly prepared for
them to help the shoe, for if the foot, or feet, are not prop-
erly fixed to help the line of action this faulty fixed foot
will work against the effect of the sideweight, and the re-
sults will be very unsatisfactory. Sideweight shoes are best
for winging in, or paddling out, with front legs, hitching
or hopping. or carrying a hind leg in, out of line, or carry-
ing a hind leg between the front legs, also good for a wheel
swinging hind leg.
-25-
XXL WHEEL SWINGING.
A trotter that is wheel swinging a hind leg, has de-
veloped a line of action that is tiresome, controlled mostly
by the muscles on the outside of leg, that unbalances action
at speed to a certain extent, and it looks unsightly to a good
judge of gait, when coming to you or going from you.
To correct this faulty line of action of wheel swinging,
keep the toe of hind feet nearly as long as the front feet,
and have the angle of the hind feet within two or three
degrees of the same as the front feet. If the angle of front
feet is fifty degrees have the angle of the hind feet about
fifty-two or three degrees. Lower the outside of hind foot
a full quarter of an inch or more than it will be on the
inside, begin lowering the outside of hind foot at the center
of toe back to outside heel, have both hind feet the same
length and angle. Shoe with a sideweight shoe heaviest
side of shoe on inside of foot, with heelcalks, and place
a thin low calk about one inch long on inside toe of shoe in
line from first to second nail holes. After the first shoeing,
if line of action has not improved as it should, you must
lower the outside of hind foot still more, but if you cannot
lower the foot have a shoe made thicker on the inside toe
and thinner on the outside toe and quarters, with the three
calks on it and there will be more of a change. This change
can be made in the first shoeing if you have enough of
foot to change, but it is best for the horse and owner not to
make too radical a change too quickly. It is best to do it
in two or three shoeings, especially on a horse that has a
lot of speed. Slow going horses can stand more of a radi-
cal change than fast ones.
The directions in this article for the cure of wheel-
swinging, by foot fixing and shoeing, will create a sudden
change, at different points, on the bones of the foot and leg,
so as to create a leverage at a particular point as the foot
leaves the ground, to control a more perfect line of action.
-26-
Be sure your horse is not carrying his head off to one side,
the opposite side to the wheel-swinging leg, for if so this
helps to unbalance action and works against the results you
are trying to get to a certain extent. Do not have the out-
side heel of shoe any longer than the inside but have both
same length.
XXII. KNUCKLING OVER.
This is caused by weakness, sometimes of the liga-
ments that hold the bones of ankle in their sockets, and
sometimes higher up. To shoe for this, the first thing to
do is to prepare the foot. You are likely to find the hind
feet abnormally long, perhaps longer than the front feet.
Lower the toes of hind feet as much as they will stand,
shorten toes by rasping off as much as the foot will stand,
do not touch the heels or have the inside of foot higher
than the outside. Now use a light hind shoe, with side
calks, the calks to be one and a half to two inches long, and
tapering towards the toe of shoe. At the point of heel this
calk should be not less than one-half inch high, the higher
the better, a square toe shoe is much better than a plain
one, shod this way the very best result is obtained at once.
A shoe made thick at heels, three-quarters of an inch or
more, and thin at the toe for ordinary driving is good.
XXIII. STUMBLING.
Is a very dangerous fault and is from a weakness that
can be helped a lot. The front feet of a stumbler should
be kept as short as possible at the toe. Elevate the heels as
much as would be comfortable to the leg and horse. A
stumbler should be made to carry some weight in his front
shoes because the weight increases knee action, and this is
what you want in a stumbler. Shoe with a toe-weight shoe
thick at the heels, for height, and roll the toes of the shoes
-27-
as much as possible, a bevel toed shoe is also good, keep the
heels middling high, and the toes cut down low and short-
ened up. These shoes are not very good for fast work,
as they will slip back too much on leaving the ground, which
retards speed but will help to make speed in lots of slow
ones that require action.
XXIV. SPEEDY CUTTING.
A horse that is taking his work and is "speed cutting"
and still continues to be a good actor must be game. -Speed
cutting begins at the coronet or a little higher up and con-
tinues up the pastern mostly on the inside of leg to the
top of ankle and even above that. There are three things
that cause this, the most prominent one to look for, is the
inside of the hind feet are a lot higher than the outside;
seven times out of ten the outside of front feet will be
found longer or higher than the inside. The horse may or
may not be carrying the proper weight. If he is pulling a
part of a ton on the bit to hold him together, he is not
properly balanced with weight. The hitting is mostly done
with the outside toe of the front shoe. If you can find
some one who can level and balance these feet on the legs
there will be a big change in the action.
Excessive front, and not enough of hind, action will
•cause speed cutting. Excessive hock and stifle action and
not enough action in front will also cause it. When the
action is excessive, decrease it by lowering the quarters and
heels and by shoeing very light, if the action of the other
end needs to be increased, shorten the toes and add weight,
do not be afraid, four to five ounces will be better to experi-
ment with than one or two. After the horse gains confi-
dence he may not need any extra weight. The most im-
portant thing will be to find some one who can fix the feet,
and the feet will be found as I have stated above. There
are very few who are good judges of a balanced foot. It
-28- •
takes an expert to detect the high and low side of a foot.
Horses that wing into their knees and those that paddle
away from their knees, and line trotters, contract this
fault because of an improperly prepared foot to control
the faulty line of action and at times not carrying the
proper amount of weight front and hind to balance the
action so that the hind action will work in harmony with
the front.
If the horse wings in toward his knees with one or
both front feet fix the front feet according to the directions
in this book in the chapter on winging in or knee hitting.
If the horse paddles out away from his knees, I refer you
to the, chapter on Paddling to prepare his feet by, and use
the shoes therein prescribed. If the front action is exces-
sive and lofty you must lower the quarters and heels to
give him a longer leverage to leave the ground from, and
shoe with a light shoe, and balance him with a toe weight
for extension, and have the feet the same length and angle.
To prepare the feet on a speedy cutter, rasp down or
lower the inside of foot from centre of toe back to inside
heel to a level or a fraction lower than the outside of the
foot, have the toes of both feet the same length, and at the
angle he shows the most speed with. Shoe with a side-
weight shoe, the heavy side of shoe on the outside of foot
and calked to prevent slipping.
To shorten the hind stride use a light shoe, raise the
heels and shorten the toes of the hind feet as much as they
will stand. To lengthen the stride of the hind feet, lower
the quarters and heels to a longer angle to leave the ground
from, and add several ounces more weight than the horse
has been carrying to each shoe; the inside edges of hind
shoes from the toe back to quarters should be beveled off.
The edges of front shoes should be beveled off on both
outside~and inside.
-29-
XXV. A BAD SPEEDY CUTTER.
The late Freeman M. Dodge of Pittsfield, Mass., trainer
and driver, had a bay mare by the name of "Tillie Wilkes"
that was speedy cutting so bad that he was not able to work
her, and he came to me to find out if I could stop her from
speedy cutting. I told him I could not tell until I saw her
driven. He brought her over and drove her down the
stretch at a three minute gait. This mare had a sore spot
on the lower inside of -one hind ankle that was raw, the size
of a silver dollar and when she began touching this spot,
speedy cutting, she would jump and begin running. After
seeing this mare driven I found she had excessive action
in front and very lofty, and her hind action mostly all
stifle action and very little hock action and her feet were
in bad shape. She was driven over the next day to be shod
and I had her shoes ready when she arrived. I fixed this
mare's front feet by lowering her quarters and heels as
much as nature would allow me, and left all the toe possible.
This gave her a longer leverage to leave the ground from,
which kept her from breaking over so quick, and it reduced
her lofty knee action and created more extension. I took
off a twelve-ounce shoe from each of her front feet, and
applied a four-ounce aluminum shoe.
Fixing her hind feet and shoeing them was the most
important. I shortened the toes and lowered the inside of
each hind foot until the inside of them was as low as the
outside or a shade lower if anything. I fitted a pair of
heavy side-weight shoes, the heavy side of the shoes on the
outside of the hind feet, each hind shoe weighed about
eleven ounces with heel calks. This job stopped all the
speedy cutting and she trotted quarters in 31 seconds shortly
after, and was sold to Mr. Shults for $750.00.
- 30-
XXVI. GAITING COLTS.
Sometimes you will find a colt that has not much knee,
hock or stifle action and not much speed, and in such cases,
to remedy the defect, after the feet have been leveled the
hind feet a shade shorter than the front, I would recom-
mend a heavy rolling toe shoe in front, eight, nine or ten
ounces and a little lighter one behind, two or three ounces
lighter. If the foot is large and the colt is strong, eleven
ounces in front to begin with. Now as the action increases,
decrease the weight. When the colt begins to make speed
he or she will not need a rolling toe shoe in front, a plain
shoe is better, one that will not slip back on leaving the
ground. As the colt begins to make speed the action of the
legs needs watching because sometimes they will begin to
show a faulty line of action.
If they begin to get faulty they are liable to begin
winging in or paddling out, and when shod again the feet
can be fixed to prevent this way of going at speed. The
most important thing is fixing their feet to prevent a faulty
line of action for if the feet are not kept level they will
begin getting rough gaited and unsteady. One important
thing in fixing feet on yearlings to be shod and worked
for speed is to keep the quarters and heels of front feet
as low as possible, it affords comfort in landing and in-
creases extension without carrying so much weight. Colts
that have a lot of action at both ends, hind and front, need
very light shoes all round, you can find out the proper bal-
ance with a toe weight.
To increase extension, lower the quarters and heels and
apply toe weights instead of useing so much in the shoe.
The colt should carry a natural head, not too high and not
too low, the lower the better if he is inclined to mix. If
your colt is short and choppy gaited in his hind action lower
the quarters and heels of hind feet and shoe with a heavy
toeweight plain shoe and extend the shoe out one-quarter
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of an inch or more in front of toe of hind foot. When the
colt begins to make speed decrease the weight of shoe of
hind feet. Some youngsters require more weight behind
than in front to equalize action so as to work harmoniously
front and rear.
If you have a mixed-gaited colt and you want to make
a trotter out of him or her, keep plenty of foot on both hind
and front feet, especially at the toes. When fixing the feet
to be shod cut or rasp the quarters and heels of both front
and hind feet as low as possible, keep plenty of toe on
front and hind feet. Usually you will find that the front
feet have the longest angle to leave the ground from, but
by lowering the quarters and heels of hind feet to get them
as near as you can to the same angle of the front feet, the
more you will be confining the gait to a pure trot, and there
will be less danger of singlefooting or pacing.
I want my readers to distinctly understand that there
is a set of pacing feet for a pacer and a set of trotting feet
for a trotter, especially at the time when you are going to
convert a trotter to the pace or a pacer to the trot. That,
however, will be explained later in this book. If your trot-
ting colt becomes mixed gaited or goes into a single foot or
pace, the first thing to do is to lower the quarters and heels
of hind feet as much as possible, keep all the toe on him
you can and shoe with a light shoe with toe and heel calks.
The front feet should be lowered in the same manner and
add a few ounces more weight to front shoes and allow
your colt to be driven as low headed as is comfortable.
When you try this remedy for a mixed gaited colt or
horse you will be surprised why you have not been able to
find it out years ago.
The pacing youngster with not much of any kind of
action at either end, needs to go in short toes and heavy
shoes all around and if the toes of shoes are beveled or
rolled it will be very good the first time shod. After your
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HORSE-SHOE STACK— ALLEN FARM, 1916.
W. J. Moore
pacing colt begins to make speed, shoe to prevent slipping
at both ends, with heel and toe calks on hind shoes. As a
rule they go high headed, it seems to suit the majority of
pacers.
If your pacer begins to crossfire lower the inside of
hind feet but if you cannot lower the feet on the inside
raise the outside with the thickness of the shoe, thick on
outside and thin on inside. If you can lower the inside of
hind feet low enough, a plain shoe will do with calks. The
best shoe for a cross-firing pacer is a heavy sideweight
shoe, thin and rounded off on the inside toe. You do not
need any projections on this shoe, heel or toe, if the foot
is properly prepared to widen action. If your colt gets to
winging to his knees, lower the outside of front feet from
centre of toes to heel on outside. If your colt begins to pad-
dle with one front leg or the other, lower the inside of the
foot or feet as much as they will stand, this will leave the
outside toe the longest to leave the ground from, which,
when at speed, will prevent a lot of paddling. The lighter
the shoes on a paddler the better, but if he has to carry
some weight in his shoes to balance action, put all the
weight in the outside of his shoes. If you use a toe weight,
attach it near to the outside toe for better results. Pad-
dling is caused by the contraction of muscles on one side of
the leg, the same as winging in, and not always by bad
shoeing, the main thing is foot fixing.
Some say there is nothing under the sun perfect. Foals
developing in the womb of their dam sometimes will be in
a cramped position, which contracts those muscles or liga-
ments that cause winging in or paddling out. As some of
the yearlings and weanlings show this faulty line of action
before ever being shod. I have seen yearlings that were
knee-knockers to begin with and you would think confirmed
ones and after one, two or three shoeings you could not
hear them knock their boots on the turns, and they would
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later develop into fast trotters and win races or take fast
records at two and three years old.
At the Allen Farm, where I have been located for a
great many years, I have seen results obtained by foot fixing
and shoeing that satisfied me that there were secrets hidden
from most of the public in the art or science of foot fixing
and balancing faulty action, and from my experience and
the results obtained, I felt that the public was entitled to
my knowledge so gained. I have seen yearlings step eighths
of a mile from 15^4 to 17 and 18 seconds, and many of
them. I have seen a yearling step the last sixteenth of an
eighth in seven seconds, a 1 :52 gait, on this half-mile
track which should go a second faster on a mile track.
Now if the foot fixing and shoeing that I have ex-
plained in this book and have been practising for years is
not the nearest approach to the proper and correct way of
balancing the action of the trotter and pacer, why has
Bingara become the champion fourteen-year-old sire of
2:30 peformers, located as he is in this cold climate and
far away from the section where are the greatest number
of producing dams? Mares by Kremlin 2:07^4, the cham-
pion living brood mare sire of the world, have produced
wonderful results. Through these channels came Baden
2:05)4, a trotting race horse that raced on both half-mile
tracks and mile tracks and was badly handicapped in many
of his races by being scored ten, twelve, fifteen, and as
many as seventeen times before getting the word. This
scoring was not all done by one driver or one horse, but by
different drivers and different horses trying to break the
horse's heart repeatedly, and when they could not rupture
his legs, unhinge his back, rattle his thinking box or break
his heart, Mr. Geers and Mr. Cox, the great race drivers,
said that Baden 2:05)4 was the greatest race horse ever
seen. In all my experience with the produce of Bingara
I have never seen one yet that wanted to pace if looked
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after in his early education. I know him to get trotters
from pacing mares, and nothing but trotters from all kinds
of mares, his power to transmit the trotting gait to his pro-
duce is something wonderful, and his only pacers arc those
that were forced by the unsportsmanlike use of hopples.
XXVII. NEGLECTED HIND FEET.
The hind feet on both trotters and pacers are the
worst neglected when receiving their preparation in train-
ing and racing. Is your trotter or pacer going rough gaited
with his hind legs? Is your trotter hitting his coronets, is
he speedy cutting, is he hitting his shins or hocks ? Is your
pacer hitting his front shoes, or cross-firing? All this un-
balanced action comes from an unbalanced, unprepared, and
unweighted foot, most times — nearly nine out of ten — from
cutting the outside of hind foot too low from center of
toe back to outside heel leaving the inside the highest, which
wall control the line of action of the leg after the foot
leaves the ground.
Lots of people do not know this and lots of horsemen
do not know this until they get into trouble and commence
experimenting with some fandangle shoes, long heels on
one side and short heels on the opposite side, or some
projection on some part of shoes that creates strain and
friction trying to overcome a badly fixed foot or feet. If
your trotter or pacer is doing any of the above stunts, the
insides of his hind foot or feet are a lot too high for the
outside. Cut the inside of hind feet down as low as they
will stand, low enough to change the angle of the feet, to
make the feet or angle longer to leave the ground from. If
his toes are the right length do not touch them.
The best shoe for your trotter in this case is a side-
weight shoe, a little heavier than he has been carrying —
two or three ounces heavier. The best shoe for the pacer
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is a sideweight, same as above and it can be an ounce
heavier than above, say four ounces heavier than he had
been carrying. After your trotter or pacer becomes purer
gaited you can dispense with this extra weight. Shoe light
and as long as the foot or feet are kept level and at the
right poise and angle you will not have any trouble. I do
not recommend shoes with a long heel on one side and a
short one on an opposite side on a correctly or properly
fixed foot, or feet, for fast work or racing, because such
shoes create undue friction at speed. When a hind leg is
extended and foot or feet are properly fixed and balanced
on the leg, both heels of the foot should strike the ground
at the same time. If the heel on one side of shoe is three-
quarter of an inch longer, or half-inch longer, this long heel
hits the ground first, before the opposite heel hits, which
is unnatural and disagreeable to the bones of the feet, that
work in sockets. It has the tendency to shift the bearing
of the bones in their sockets on landing and leaving the
ground, and gives extra work to the ligaments that hold the
bones in their sockets. On slow going horses this long
outside heel does not affect them as severely as on horses
that are working fast or racing. You must remember when
horses are going at a fast pace they land on their heels as a
rule with their toes elevated away from the ground. This
is one of the main reasons why the heels of hind shoes
should be the same length on both sides at speed or taking
fast work. There are lots of horses that would have been
faster and better race horses if their hind feet and action
had been properly balanced to work harmoniously with
one another. The speed of a horse depends largely on the
propelling power of the hind quarters. The muscles of the
thigh, stifle and whirlbone need looking after in their early
preparation to keep the soreness out of them until they be-
come hardened. Do not work your horse on a slippery
track, wait a day or you may be sorry, if he is not eating
skip a workout, it will suit the horse.
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XXVIII. KNEE ACTION' WITHOUT
EXTENSION.
Many horses have plenty of knee action and no extru-
sion. This horse is carrying weight enough, and foot is
prepared to make him knee up, but is unbalanced both by
the weight application and foot fixing to develop the proper
extension. The feet of a horse gaited in this manner need
the quarters and heels of front feet lowered as low as
safety will permit, do not touch the toes of front feet,
place the front feet at as long an angle to leave the ground
from as possible, reduce the weight of the front shoes and
add it to the feet in a toe weight, and pull his head down
some if you have to use a standing martingale and let him
come along gradually.
Too much knee action is lost motion and tiresome. I
found that out for myself walking through the deep snows
that we have up here in the Berkshire Hills. Too much
folding of the knees causes elbow hitting, and at times
when they do not reach their elbow some of them will hit
on the back of their arm. One of the worst speedy cutters
I ever saw was gaited in front in this manner. I decreased
the knee and folding action, changed the hind feet, which
were very high on inside, lowered them and shod with heavy
outside weight shoe and she trotted clean and pure, quarters
in 31 seconds in May. She had one sore on her as large
as a silver dollar from hitting, and when she began hitting
she would try and run away.
XXIX. HORSES THAT GET AWAY SLOW,
BUT FINISH FAST.
In these cases I feel sorry for the horse also for the
driver. The horse knows he is handicapped, and the driver
does not want to take any desperate chances of getting shut
out by trying to get away with the field of starters, anyhow
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I will say, the horse is unbalanced to get away, got a lot of
speed but can not find it when it is needed. This horse
needs assistance in foot balancing and weighting. The
front action on this kind of a horse needs to be increased
more for extension than anything else, increase his ex-
tension and everything else will take care of itself.
To help this horse to get away, I would change the
angle of his front feet, make the angle longer to leave the
ground from. If the angle of his front feet is at 54 or 55
degrees change it to 50 or 51, if it is at 52 or 53 degrees
change it to 48 or 49 degrees, add three or four ounces
more weight to his front shoes and carry the same toe
weight that he has been carrying. In fixing his front feet
do not touch or take anything off his toes, shoe to prevent
slipping, especially the hind feet. If this horse has been
carrying a light shoe in front- — seven, eight or nine ounces —
it will require not less than four or five ounces more
weight to get away with his field. If this four or five
ounces balances him to get away with his field, he will not
pull you hard to hold him together. If this horse is not
inclined to mix, I would have the toes of hind feet an eighth
or quarter inch shorter than those of the front feet and at
an angle of about 54 or 55 degrees, but if he is inclined
to shift or mix into a single foot, have the hind feet as
near the same length and angle as the front feet as possible,
the nearer the better. If it takes two or three ounces more
weight to balance faulty action, use it, put it on his feet, if
you don't you will wear him out pulling on him, you will
make him muscle-sore propelling against your strong arms,
pulling 100 or 150 pounds on the bit. It creates a terrible
strain going the last quarter of a fast mile, especially on
youngsters, and some trainers wonder why some of their
pupils don't go on and develop speed, and wonder why
some of them become so tired after passing the three-
quarter pole. Xo matter how royally bred they are, they
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need to be properly balanced to go the distance on as light
a pull on the bit as possible. If you depend on balancing
them by holding them together by pulling against their jaws
you are a back number for a youngster or aged horse is not
doing his work in comfort and with ease going against a
heavy pull on the bit. There is nothing that will wear out
a yearling, two-year-old or three-year-old quicker than hard
pulling against the bit, for it over-taxes the muscles of the
propelling power caused by being unbalanced. Their pro-
pelling muscles will stand it for a while, but not for long.
If you can get your colt or horse properly balanced he
will not pull you, he would rather go at speed in com-
fort and ease to himself than to get unhinged in the
back propelling against a heavy pull on the lines. The
trainers that can detect or locate faulty action and know
what to do to remedy the same are the ones that make
a success of developing, conditioning and driving in races.
It takes judgment, a good eye and ear to detect faulty
action. It takes an expert to detect a badly fixed foot
that was intended to help the line of action.
XXX. TO CONVERT A PACER TO TROT.
Begin by fixing his feet, cut or rasp the quarters and
heels of all four feet down as low as possible without get-
ting any sole pressure against the shoes that are fitted.
Have the length of toes as near alike as the case will permit,
I mean by not taking anything off the toes of front feet or
hind feet, supposing the toes are near alike, he will need all
the toe possible to convert him to the trot from the pace.
Shoe front feet with a heavy toe weight shoe, it may take
fifteen or seventeen ounces. If you have to use any toe
weight while going slow it is best to weld spur on toe of
shoe and use a toe weight fitted to the spur. It is best in
his case, in order to convert the pacer to trot, to have a
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grab on the front shoes. Shoe the hind feet with a light
shoe with toe and heel calk, drive him as low headed as
possible even if you have to use a standing martingale,
bring him along slow, by degrees, for as it effects a change
of muscles it is something new to the horse and the more
time you take in bringing along trotting, the more you will
be perfecting the gait. Don't hurry matters. After a few
weeks he will have more growth of foot and can lower his
quarters and heels a little more giving his feet a longer
angle to leave the ground from. In converting a pacer to
trot, a four-inch toe is not too long on some horses, but on
yearlings and two-year-olds their feet will be shorter, but
the closer you get the angle of front and hind feet to 50
or 51 degrees with same length of toes hind and front, the
better, to confine him to the trot, and keep him trotting. In
some cases the angle needs to be 48 or 49 degrees in front,
and as near to that as you can get the hind feet.
XXXI. CONVERTING A TROTTER TO
THE PACE.
Shorten and lower the toes of all four feet, do not
touch the quarters or heels of front or hind feet. The
weight of the shoes will vary on different horses. On a
youngster I would put a five or six-ounce concaved shoe in
front, and about nine or ten ounces behind, with toe and
heel calk. On an older horse the weight at both front and
hind can be correspondingly heavier, about eight ounces
front and eleven or twelve ounces, with heel and toe calks
behind. Now when hitched ready to go for the first lesson,
check the head as high as the horse or colt can carry it
without causing pain and misery to the neck. If he paces
any, a half mile up to a mile and a half is enough for the
first three or four lessons. If he acts good do not let him
go too fast for the first week or ten days, you must take
two or three weeks before asking him to step. The angle
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of the front feet should be about 55 degrees and the angle
of the hind feet should be about 59 degrees.
Some horses that go into a singlefoot or strike a pace
occasionally can be easily converted to the pace by shoeing
light in front and heavier behind, from three to five ounces
more weight in each hind shoe than he is carrying in his
front shoes. If he does not take to the pace readily add
more weight to hind shoes, and bevel or roll the toes of
shoes, and check head higher. You need a short natural
foot all around to convert to the pace. The angle of the
feet will vary according to their pasterns. If the horse has
a long oblique pastern, shorten the toes hind and front as
much as they will allow to be safe, and do not touch the
heels.
I used this method of converting Joe Patchen II from
the trot to the pace, and many others. They could not
make him strike a pace and after fixing his feet and shoeing
him he went out on the track and paced an eighth of a mile
in eighteen seconds after having been driven at the trot
for over a year.
XXXII. CONTRACTED HEELS.
To expand a contracted foot or quarter the first thing
to do is to get the foot soft by poulticing or stuffing with
"Whiterock" for a couple of nights. Use hoof expanders
that are stronger than the hoof, some feet are so strong and
stiff at the quarters that the foot has to be weakened be-
tween the bars and frog so that the expanders will expand
it. If you want the inside quarter expanded leave the last
two heel nails out of the inside of shoe, put a toe clip on
shoe and a clip back at the outside heel and do just the
reverse to expand an outside quarter. In this way you
will be getting all the expansion on the contracted quarter.
If this shoe is fitted so that the expander can be placed in
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the foot after the shoe has been nailed on, the contracted
quarter will be expanded oyer a quarter of an inch before
the shoe is clinched up. Nails should not be used back
towards the heels of a contracted foot that is to be ex-
panded. When the foot expands wider than the shoe, reset
shoes and renew the position of expander to act stronger.
The softer you keep the feet the faster they will spread, do
not let them get dry and hard. The expansion you get in
the foot of a yearling or a two or three-year-old can be
kept after the expander has been discarded by not allowing
the heels to be kept too high for too long a time. But in
aged horses that have had contracted feet or quarters for
years and have become set, you can expand the feet or
quarters, and when you stop using the expanders the heels
and quarters will contract right back to where they were
before, in the majority of cases. In cases of this kind in
aged horses after the feet have been expanded the quarters
should be cut down low and the coronets blistered on both
inside and outside quarters.
There are lots of horses with contracted heels and the
heels become so high from the coronet to the shoe bearing
surface and have stayed this way for such a length of time
that they cannot be cut down without hurting or injuring
the horse, until after the feet have been expanded. The
sensitive part of the foot gets a long ways down from the
coronet in a contracted foot, and to cut or lower the quar-
ters and heels to place the foot at a proper angle, it cannot
be done until the foot is expanded. The more you expand
the foot the lower you can cut or rasp down the heels. The
more you expand the heels the higher up you are driving
the sensitive interior of the foot at the quarters. In many
aged horses after the feet are expanded it will be well to
continue the use of expanders, to prevent contraction, for
a period of six or twelve months.
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XXXIII. CAUSE OF CONTRACTED HEELS.
A disease called Thrush, located in and about the frog
is sure to contract the heels of a foot, if not cured quickly.
A foot troubled with thrush should be cured when first dis-
covered, if not the frog keeps perishing away until there
is not enough of it there to hold or keep the heels from
contracting. Another cause is allowing feet to grow too
high at the heels and letting them remain too high for too
long a time. When the heels get too high the frog is too
far away from the ground to get any expansion, or to pre-
vent contraction. The closer the frog is kept to the ground
on a horse running in pasture or shod and working, all the
better. Stock running in pasture, young or old, should have
their feet rasped down regularly every five or six weeks
at the longest. Some may need it oftener than that. This
fixing of feet on stock running out, assists expansion and
prevents contraction. If the feet are allowed to grow too
long on stock running in pasture the position the animal
has to stand in while grazing, with one leg out in front of
the other will contract or curl the inside quarter of each
front foot, and wing out the outside quarter. Shoes staving
on too long, and horses kept on dry, hard floors where
they do not get any moisture, will cause contraction. The
feet of horses kept on dry hard floors should be stufTed at
least every other night with clay, or whiterock, or some-
thing of a moistening nature. Contraction is the main
cause of both quartercracks and corns. To cure Thrush,
cleanse the frog thoroughly, then a few applications of dry
powdered calomel to the frog will dry the disease up and
leave the frog healthy.
XXXIV. CORNS.
A live, painful corn is caused by different things.
High contracted heels will cause corns as well as short ones.
Shoeing and leaving the shoes on too long, and undue con-
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cussion will cause corns. The majority of cases of corns
will be found in contracted feet. I find the most success-
ful way to treat corns is to get the foot or feet soft and
keep them soft. Shoe with a bar shoe, lower the heels so
as you can get all the frog pressure possible on the bar of
the shoe, after the shoe has been fitted, and before nailing
to the foot, cut the heel bearing away from the shoe where
the corn is located, an inch of the bearing surface ahead
of the corn and half an inch or more away from the shoe
to break the jar and reduce the concussion. If foot is con-
tracted use an expander inserted in foot before shoe is
fitted, and keep foot soft. I do not recommend cutting the
bars and sole away where the corn is located and leaving
the wall standing up all alone, but cut the whole heel
seat of corn and bar down flat, away from the bearing
surface of shoe.
XXXV. TOE CRACK OR SPLIT FOOT.
A foot with a toe crack should be kept as short as
possible at the toe. Apply a stiff hoof expander, use one
or two rivets or clamps as high up and as near the coronet
as possible after cutting the horn where one side laps over
the other the full length of the crack. After inserting the
hoof expander fit a bar shoe to the foot with a clip at each
side of the toe, and before nailing shoe to foot cut the bear-
ing of foot away from the shoe across the toe. If the foot
is not contracted any I would recommend a clip back at
each heel. Treat the same as is prescribed for Quarter-
crack, after cutting away half inch each side of crack at the
coronet. If foot is contracted do not use any clips back at
the heels and keep the foot soft.
XXXVI. QUARTERCRACK.
A quartercrack is a split or crack in a quarter from the
coronet down towards the bottom of a foot. At times it is
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very painful and prevents the use of the horse. In most
of these quartercracks one side is lapped over on the other
one-quarter or three-eighths of an inch, and from the con-
tinual expansion and contraction of the foot while the horse
is in action the lapped parts are continually working against
one another as the foot expands with the weight of horse
on it, and contracts when the foot is lifted up. This kind
of action of the split horn at the coronet is what prevents
it from knitting. The first thing to do is to apply a few
poultices which will get the foot soft. If the foot or quar-
ter is contracted apply a hoof expander. In fixing the foot
rasp the foot as low as possible without making it tender,
at both heels and toes. Do not cut any sole or bars out or
cut the heels open with the knife, have the side of foot where
the crack is on the lowest or you can have that part of the
shoe quite thin, so that the jar or concussion will be on all
parts of foot, except the quartercrack. Use a bar shoe
with plenty of frog pressure, a plain shoe is best. If you
have to have calks, place the heel calk on cracked side
ahead of crack on shoe if possible. If the crack is close to
the heel, take the bearing of foot away from the shoe by
Cutting the heel down. Now cut the horn away on the side
that is lapped over the other the full length of the quarter-
crack, cut the horn away one-quarter of an inch each side
of the crack at the coronet, if it bleeds a little it will not
hurt. Now a blister at the coronet above and on each side
of the crack will be beneficial to start the growth down
solid, if it should crack open again apply a stronger one.
After the crack starts to grow down solid, apply a little of
the blistering ointment every week or ten days but do not
let it blister, just use enough to keep it sweating, it will
toughen and soften the horn as it grows down. A rivet or
clamp drawing the edges of crack together as near the
coronet as possible, to hold it together and strengthen it will
be very beneficial. A salve or ointment formally made by
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the late Geo. W. St. Clair, and now by Mike Bowerman, of
Lexington, Ky., is the best thing I have seen to help knit
and grow down a quartercrack. A little North Carolina tar
rubbed into coronet over crack every other day I find is
excellent.
XXXVII. DISHED OR SCOOPED TOE.
This is caused by allowing feet to grow too long, espe-
cially on colts and horses in training, creating undue pres-
sure and strain on the front of foot on breaking over to
leave the ground. It is also caused by being foundered,
where the soles of feet have dropped, and also where the
fever has settled in the feet, and the soles have not dropped,
but are inclined to be contracted, dry and hard, and kept at
the wrong angle, and feet not kept properly fixed and shoes
not properly fitted. The remedy for this is to fix the foot
at the proper angle, keep the frog close to the ground.
Pare the sole a little thin around the toe from the point of
frog out to the wall at the toe, and after the shoe has been
fitted, cut the bearing of the foot at the toe away from the
shoe. A few shoeings of this kind will prevent the toe from
turning up.
XXXVIII. CONCUSSION.
Horses with high knee action hit the ground the hard-
est. The more weight a horse carries in his shoes or toe
weights, the more concussion he receives. The concussion
on the hind feet and legs does not seem to pain or sting
anything like what he has to endure in the front feet and
legs when striking the ground fast and hard, especially
when he is going over a hard piece of ground. If his front
feet are out of proportion, high heels and long toes, dry and
hard, he will feel the concussion severely and this will make
many horses unsteady, breaking and acting bad. A horse
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with lofty forward action should be trained in a natural
low quarter and low heeled foot, with a bar shoe as light as
possible, with frog pressure.
The most dangerous and uncomfortable kind of a foot
for a horse that hits the ground hard to have is one with the
heels abnormally high. The higher the heels the greater the
concussion. The lower the heels the less the concussion.
The more weight the more concussion. The less weight the
less concussion. A foot that is kept at the proper angle, as
near to a natural foot as possible, and kept soft, will pre-
vent the stinging and painful sensation that is caused by
concussion. With feet kept like this the horse will not
flinch or shorten up in his stride when he strikes hard places
in the track. The light thin heel calks that are used on
shoes do not break much of the concussion when horses are
going fast. Why? because when the legs are extended at
speed the shoes land on the ground back on the heel, with
the toe of the foot elevated away from the ground, and
with some horses more than with others. They do not
strike the ground flat-footed like the most of them do when
going slow. Thin hard pads are very good under light
shoes, but thick pads that will allow the walls of a horse's
foot at heels to sink or cut through them at the heels are
no good. They will create a hard lump at the seat of corns
between the bar and wall at the heels, and hold dirt that is
liable to create unpleasant feelings to a sensitive horse that
goes in middling low heels. When heels of the front feet
are allowed to become too high on horses taking fast work
or racing, a very severe strain is thrown on the ligament or
tendon that holds the navicular bone in its socket. When
the leg is extended at speed the extra high heels cause the
foot to land too far ahead of the leg while the toe is elevated
on landing, so that it creates an extra amount of work
for the ligament to hold it in its proper position at the
time of impact with the ground.
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XXXIX. FOUNDER, CHRONIC LAMINITIS OR
DROPPED SOLE.
There is only one way to shoe this kind for comfort to
the animal, and for an earning remuneration for the owner.
In founder or chronic laminitis, where the sole of feet are
dropped, caused by the displacement of the weight bear-
ing bones of the foot, fix the feet by lowering the quarters
and heels so as to get as much frog pressure as is possible,
without making the foot tender, and your foot is ready
for the shoe. A shoe for a dropped sole foot must be a
bar shoe, thick at the toe and thin at the heels, with a wide
thin bar to receive the frog pressure. To make a shoe to
suit this kind of diseased feet, use a piece of iron three-
quarters to one inch square according to the nature of the
disease and the weight of the horse, and in making the
shoes for foot founder leave all the thickness of the shoe at
the toe possible, and thin the shoe at the quarters and heels
to a quarter of an inch, have the bar wide and thin so as to
receive all the frog pressure possible, the thicker the toe of
shoe and thinner the quarters and bar at heels the better.
Concave or cup the shoe out so as not to get any sole pres-
sure.
I will cite one case of this kind, the very worst in my
experience. A horse that weighed over 1400 pounds that
could scarcely stand on his feet, had been treated by dif-
ferent veterinary surgeons and shod several times and could
not keep the shoes on his feet and he was so sore that I
got wet with perspiration getting two nails in one shoe and
I had to stand him in a very soft place to do that. This
horse would lay down in the lot most all the time and eat
the grass from where he could reach it and then move to
where he could reach more, he was the most hopeless sub-
ject I ever came across. I shod him according to the in-
struction herein prescribed, and he trotted off with his tail
curled over his back like a colt. He was put to work the
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next morning and continued at work until sold for two
hundred dollars. Elevating the heels with calks creates
pain and misery to the animal.
XL. CROSSFIRIXG PACERS.
When a pacer begins to crossfire every one knows he is
not balanced. There are different causes for crossfiring:
front feet not properly fixed and at the proper angle, not
carrying the proper amount of weight in front will help to
cause it, and on hind feet the same. Too much slipping will
help to create it. But the most important thing that causes
crossfiring, nine times out of ten, is because the hind feet
are a lot higher on the inside than they are on the outside,
which creates a leverage to leave the ground from when at
speed, which extra height or length of foot acts as a lever-
age to control the line of action of the leg after the foot
leaves the ground. In all my experience with crossfirers I
have found this the most important factor, namely, the in-
side of the offending feet to be the highest. So the fixing
of the feet is the most important part of the contract. If
you can get the feet properly fixed to change the leverage,
to control the line of action, there will be no more cross-
firing. (This same rule applies to a trotter that is unbal-
anced if the insides of his hind feet are the highest and
when he strikes a singlefoot or pace he is very likely to
crossfire). The pacer that begins to crossfire needs the
insides of the hind feet lowered, a little longer angle to
leave the ground from, with the height or extra length of
foot to create a leverage on leaving the ground to be at the
outside toe. A foot properly fixed as herein prescribed and
a properly made and fitted shoe will stop crossfiring. I
would recommend a sideweight shoe, the weight to be ap-
plied to the outside of feet, the inside to be beveled or
rounded from center of toe back to the inside quarter of
each hind shoe. The shoes could be a few ounces heavier
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than previous shoes for best results. As a rule pacers go
best and fastest in shorter feet than the trotters. The
easier a pacer can leave the ground the more rapid gaited
he will be, and the more he will be inclined to stick to
the pace. By all means shoe to prevent slipping both in
front and behind. A proper angle for the front feet has
to be found, also for the hind feet, so that the speed at
both ends will be in harmony, if one end is faster than
the other there will be friction.
There will be found in this work directions as to how
to lengthen or shorten the stride, to increase or decrease
knee or hock action, to widen hind action, also the best way
to prevent winging in and paddling out, at speed. Also how
to quicken the action of dwelling gaited ones. As to the
proper amount of weight that the horse goes the fastest
with in his shoes, the trainer should know better than any
one else, but all trainers are not the best judges of gait, an
expert on the ground taking a view from in front, from
behind, and a side view, has a big advantage over the driver.
An expert trainer and race driver knows when his pupil
can step a mile, half or three-quarters at a 2:10 or 2:05 or-
a 2 :00 gait on a light line, that his horse is all right, if there
is any friction he can see it or feel it on the lines.
XLL NOTE OF IMPORTANCE.
Now right here is the most important part of a little
transaction that should not be omitted from any trainer's
records. The condition your horse has worked up to and
how he has been cared for, his weight, whether he wears
calks or not, what is the angle of his feet and length of
toes front and hind, what is the weight of his front shoes
also his hind shoes, also about his harness, the exact length
of back strap and check rein, and what hole the buckle be-
longs in in the check rein should be carefully noted. If you
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keep a record of these things no one can tell you what your
horse needs, for you will know it yourself far better. I i" a
change takes place and it is not physical it may have oc-
curred in the shop if he has been shod recently, and as you
have kept a record of his feet and shoes and harness you
can find out by reference to it
The last time I was in Lexington, Ky. I was working
at my trade, shoeing horses, when I was approached by a
gentleman by the name of Saunders, he said to me that he
was told by some of his friends to see me about shoeing a
cross-firing pacer that he had and he also said that I was
recommended to him very highly. I told him I could tell
him what I could do for the horse after seeing the con-
dition of the feet, if I could help him or not, so he had the
horse led around to my tent to be looked at. After looking
at the feet and shoeing, I told him I could help that horse
wonderfully, so the next day my subject was led around
for me to operate on. I had learned that this horse cross-
fired so bad they could hardly keep quarterboots on him,
and they wrere afraid to work him on account of crossfiring.
He was entered to start at the meeting but was a little
short of work. His feet were in bad shape according to the
calipers and foot -adjuster and to my eye. I fixed this
horse's feet to pace without cross-firing and truly, accord-
ing to the prescription given in this book for cross-firing.
That horse responded to the treatment instantly and the
horse paced fine with no more cross-firing. He was worked
a couple of times during the week and went all right, and
during the meeting he was going so good they agreed to
start him. He started in the race and if my memory serves
me right he finished second the first heat, the second heat
several horses finished ahead of him, I do not remember
how many, but when they came out for the third heat the
driver of this horse was called up in the stand to watch this
horse while a driver by the name of Mike Bowerman piloted
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him to victory in three straight heats and he took a record
close to 2:10. I believe the horse's name was Sable Gift,
or some other gift. The only gift the horse got was a
record, something he did not want, neither did those that
were buying first, second and third choices.
XLII. KEEP THE FEET LEVEL.
The front foot should never be the highest on the
outside of a trotter or pacer, unless the horse paddles with
one or both front legs. A foot that is left high on the out-
side and low on the inside will help to prevent paddling and
will increase the winging in to the knees. A foot that is
kept high on the inside and low on the outside will help to
prevent winging in to the knees. There are lots of paddlers
who do not begin to paddle until the foot has left the
ground quite some distance, and to prove this I have seen
the shoes worn by some paddlers and the most of the weai
on the shoes of the paddling leg or legs was at the outside
toe of shoe. A paddler that leaves the ground from the
inside toe of shoe can be made to carry the leg straighter
in a line at speed easier than one that leaves the ground
from the outside toe.
The reason why a front foot should not be left highest
on the outside, of a trotter or pacer, unless he is a paddler,
is this; supposing the front legs at the chest or where the
upper arm joint is connected with the chest is ten, twelve
or fifteen inches apart, I mean the distance the two front
legs are from one another where connected with the body.
<Now when this horse is at speed and can go fast at the trot
or pace, like most all fast horses at speed, his foot prints
will be straight in a line one after the other on the track.
Now if their upper arms are ten or twelve inches apart,
more or less, and at speed their feet land nearly on a line,
the front legs are not working forward and backward in a
straight up and down line from the body, so this being the
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case just try to imagine just how those two front feet land
on the ground with the legs wide apart at the upper arms
and the feet landing straight in a line or nearly so at speed.
The question is, should the outside of front foot be lower
than the inside, if so, how much, to distribute and equalize
the concussion on both sides of a front foot at the heels
when at speed. What I am trying to explain is, if you have
a fast trotter or pacer and he does not paddle, and you are
working to develop speed intending to race, and if the out-
side of the front feet are the highest and the inside of the
hind feet are the highest, every time you work this horse
with unbalanced feet you are guilty of one of the greatest
crimes that are committed by trainers and horse-shoers.
In fixing the front feet on all fast horses, trotters or
pacers, that do not paddle, first rasp the outside of a front
foot down to where you want it, toe and heel, then you can
rasp the inside of the foot down to where it will suit the
action of the leg the best. The reason for this is you can
always lower the inside of a front foot a lot lower than you
can the outside of same foot and when you rasp the inside
of a front foot down first, nine times out of ten you will not
be able to rasp the outside of the same foot down to a level
with the inside. Now the hind foot is just to the reverse.
Always rasp to lower the inside of a hind foot down first to
where you want it and then take the outside down to a level
with it. If you do not fix feet by this rule, the sensitive
portion of the foot will often prevent you from lowering it
enough to level up matters with opposite side, and the sensi-
tive parts of the foot that will prevent you from doing this
will be the outside of a front foot and the inside of a hind
foot. This is the main reason why so many floormen in
shops all over the country cut the inside of front feet too
low for the outside, and leave the inside of the hind feet
too high for the outside of same. But if you will fix feet
by this rule you will be right the most of the time.
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XLIIL PULLING ON ONE LINE AT SPEED.
I was approached on this subject and had it explained
to me that a certain horse going the right way of the^ track
at speed would go on one line and keep going into the fence
or hugging the pole, and would make two or three breaks
going the length of the stretch on a half-mile track, and
could not be kept away from the fence. After an exami-
nation of the teeth, cheeks, and tongue, and bit, and finding
these to be all O. K., I concluded that it must be from
uneven extension of the legs. The extension and propelling
power of the off legs was greater than that of the nigh
ones. A three-ounce toe weight on the feet of the nigh
legs straightened or balanced up the lost action of the nigh
side so that the horse would speed the length of the stretch
in any position on the track without pulling on one line and
so the necessity for pulling on one line to keep the horse
straight was stopped.
The feet on this animal were well fixed hind and front, as
to length of toes and angle of feet, the hind shoes weighed
alike and the front ones also. The muscular development
of the extension power of the off legs was stronger than
that of the nigh legs, perhaps also the propelling power of
the off hind leg. This is the reason the horse was pulling
on one line. The off legs were reaching farther than the
nigh ones, which kept forcing the horse to go towards the
fence. Unbalanced feet will cause this as well as undevel-
oped muscles. I have no doubt but there are lots of horses
going on one line and hugging the pule that need a change
in the angle of the feet, or the proper weight at the proper
place to balance up matters. If the strides of this horse
had been measured there would have been found a big dif-
ference between the off and nigh strides, so you see it is
not always the teeth, cheeks, or bit that cause this trouble.
The horse in question later stepped miles in 2:09.
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XUV. A GOOD JUDGE OF GAIT.
In all my experience with horsemen and horses I be-
lieve William Russell Allen's judgment about gait and pros-
pective or ultimate speed is superior to that of any one I
have ever come in contact with. He seems to have the
faculty of knowing at a glance the frictionless gait from a
fairly good gaited one. To prove this I will cite a few
instances. On one occasion he was away on a visit and on
his return he said to me that he saw Uhlan 1 :58 as a
two-year-old or a three-year-old, I do not remember exactly,
but it was before he came into prominence, and Mr. Allen
told me he was the best gaited colt he ever saw. This colt
must have been just as he said, for it could not have been
over a year, or two at the outside, when this same colt
trotted to a world's record, and it did not surprise me much
after remembering what Mr. Allen told me about his gait.
The same thing happened again when he saw Peter Volo
2:02, early in his two-year-old form. Also the full sister
to Peter Volo, Volga, Mr. Allen told me she was gaited
to win all her engagements.
Here at Allen Farm he picked a yearling out of about
thirty early in the season, that was out of a non-producing
dam, to beat all the yearlings an eighth of a mile at the trot
that season at the farm on a small bet. It was big odds
and was taken very quickly by one of the employees, who
was wishing he could get more of that kind of bets. When
the brush work of the season was over the field ticket was
never presented to the pool seller to be cashed. Mr. Allen's
first choice out of a large field won by a quarter of a second
and we had a lot of fast ones, but any how . he had the
laugh on me at the finish.
XLV. BAR SHOES.
If you have a horse with toe cracks, quarter cracks or
one that is sore or lame from corns, a bar shoe is the best
-55-
kind of a shoe. If you have a horse with a dropped sole,
or founder footed horse the bar shoe is the best kind for
such feet. It is also a good shoe to be used on feet where
expanders are used as the bar in the shoe will protect the
expander at times when an open shoe will not, and frog
pressure on the bar will also help to get expansion. The
most important thing to guard against is, do not drive any
nails back of the quarters because that will prevent ex-
pansion. Draft horses with wide low heels or thin soles
require bar shoes for the hard roads, as they stay sound
longer wearing bar shoes than in open shoes. For racing
purposes the bar shoe is very important for the front feet,
and occasionally for the hind feet, for both trotter and
pacer. Any horse racing or in training that carries a light,
or very light front shoe should by all means wear a bar
shoe, it is a great support to the foot when hitting the
ground hard and fast, as the natural expansion and con-
traction is at its limit while going at a fast rate of speed.
For a heel-weight shoe you can get more weight in the
heels of a bar shoe than in an open shoe, which heel weight
the action of some horses requires more so than they do
toe weight. A trotter or pacer that spreads his hind shoes
or front shoes, should by all means wear bar shoes. The
last time I shod John R. Gentry for Mr. James Ramey, I
shod him with bar shoes all around with heel and toe
calks for that memorable race at Detroit in the 2:13 or
2:14 class, he won his race easily breaking the track record,
under strong restraint. He could have paced a very fast
mile or two that day if he had been asked to do it, he was
sold after this performance..
I have never seen many yearlings or two-year-olds that
needed a bar shoe while in training. It is a very bad shoe
for either yearling or two-year-old unless a hoof expander
is kept in the foot to prevent contraction and help expan-
sion, for the feet will surely get contracted without some-
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thing to prevent it, after the heels grow high enough to
lose their frog pressure. I used a pair of heavy heel-weight
bar shoes, about ten or eleven ounce, on one yearling's hind
feet to stop forging and scalping while he was being jogged
every day. The shoes he was brushed or speeded in for
about ten days did not suit him for jogging. This yearling
trotted eighths in 17 J4 seconds, a 2:18 gait. I tried more
weight in front but it did no good.
XLVI. SLIPPING OR SLIDING TOO MUCH.
Slipping will unbalance a horse when trying to get on
his stride at speed ; slipping too much on landing or on
leaving the ground creates lost action that cannot be over-
come by muscular development. I will cite a couple of
cases here to prove this. A horse that trotted in his work
miles in 2 :27 over a half-mile track, when shipped to Rigley,
Portland, Me., could not trot a mile there in 2:45 without
being very unsteady, and this over a mile track. I exam-
ined his foot prints and saw he was slipping too much. I
calked his shoes with toe and heel calks, never changed his
feet, and this horse trotted miles in 2:25 without a break.
A mare that was trotting miles in her work over this
same half-mile track in 2:25 easily, quarters in 33 or 33^
seconds, was shipped to Portland, Me., to a mile track and
could not trot a mile there in 2 :40 without mixing and act-
ing very unsteady. On examining her foot prints I found
she was slipping too much. I was sure her feet were
fixed properly. As she became very unsteady and inclined
to mix, I added two ounces more to her front shoes and
gave her a heel and toe calk on hind and front shoes and
she became very steady the next workout, and the driver
told me she could trot a mile in 2:16 or better.
After the drivers of those two horses found they would
get all unbalanced trying to get on their stride, they did not
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go to work with the lines and whip endeavoring to balance
up matters, and cruelly abuse the dumb animals for what
they were not responsible, but asked me to take a look at
them. This thing of balancing faulty action with the lines
and whip is a thing of the past, and he who thinks it can
be done has stopped, he may be one of the know-alls and
if so is past redemption and will have to be regenerated to
be successful at the profession.
XLVII. SIDEWEIGHT SHOES.
Sideweight shoes are used with good results on horses
that wing in to their knees or knee hitters. Apply the
weighty side of shoe on the inside of foot, fix the outside of
the foot from the center of toe to the outside heel the
lowest, it will be good in some cases to have the outside
web of shoe only one-half as thick as that of the inside,
the thinner the outside the better for the winging in. For
paddling out the sideweight shoe is used with the weight
on the outside of the foot, be sure and fix the foot by
lowering the inside of foot from center of toe back to the
inside heel, have the inside of foot lower than the outside
for a paddler, and have the outside of foot lower than the
inside for a front shin, knee and arm hitter. A hind foot
has to be fixed the lowest on the inside for speedy-cutting,
shin and hock hitting. A sideweight shoe is used a lot for
speedy-cutting, shin and hock hitting, but if the feet can
be proprely leveled low enough on the insides, many horses
will go clean, or good gaited without the sideweight shoe,
as it is the extra high inside of hind feet that causes the
closing up of the hind action that makes all the trouble.
In many cases to help matters as to speedy-cutting,
shin and hock hitting the front action has to be examined.
The horse may have too much or not enough front action
to work in harmony with the hind action. If he is going
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too high or lofty I would reduce the lost lofty action and
increase the extension. If he is going too low I would
increase his front action by shortening his toes and adding
several ounces more weight, sometimes it will require from
four to six ounces more weight. To reduce the high or
lofty front action and create more extension lower the
quarters and heels of front feet, shoe with an extra light
bar shoe and have the foot at an angle of from 48 to 50
degrees. In making this change you will get immediate
results, and if necessary you can also experiment with a
toe weight to balance up matters more satisfactorily.
XLVIII. TOE WEIGHT SHOES.
A toeweight shoe is used with good results on front
feet to increase the fold of the knee, more height and
reach. This shoe can be used with a square, round, beveled
or sharp toe, or with a grab toe calk as the case calls for.
If your horse is inclined to mix and needs weight to go
good gaited, the sharp toe or one with a grab on it is best.
To shorten the stride, shorten the toes of feet and square
or bevel the toes of the shoe but do not lower the heel any.
By increasing the weight of this shoe and raising the heels
you can increase the height of the front action to your
liking. To lengthen the stride in using this shoe, lower
quarters and heels of the front feet to an angle of 48 to 50
degrees and use the plain toeweight shoe or one with a
grab on it. This toeweight shoe is the best to use on a
trotter that is hitching, hopping or running behind, and
when carrying one hind leg between the front ones. Bevel
this shoe from a little to the outside center of toe around
the inside to the quarter or near the heel with a small heel
calk. This shoe must be from one to two ounces more than
twice the weight of the shoe carried on the perfect gaited
leg. If the good gaited leg is carrying a six-ounce shoe
this faulty gaited leg or foot will have to carry 13 ounces,
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not less, to change the line of action, 14 ounces will be
better than 12 ounces, but the hind foot will have to be
the lowest on the inside, if anything, as it was a high
inside of foot that first started the trouble. A horse that is
hitching should not be speeded until the action or gait of
the faulty leg has been balanced, for it is so easily done.
A driver who will try and drive the hitching out of a horse
with the lines and whip is just as much unbalanced as is
the dumb animal.
XLIX. POCKET WEIGHTS.
A pocket weight can be used jogging a knee knocker or
paddler in the fall, winter and spring, to develop the muscle
required and to prevent those faulty lines of action, and you
can use from five to ten ounces, as the case may need to the
foot of the faulty gaited leg. But be sure and shoe the
foot or feet very light, and prepare the feet according to
the chapter in this book on winging in or paddling out. If
the feet are not properly prepared to help the pocket weight
to control the faulty line of action, one will be working
against the other, and the results will be unsatisfactory,
but if properly performed as to foot fixing and weighting,
and a little time to bring about the change results will be
good. The hole in foot to receive the spur of the pocket
weight should be about half way between toe and heel to
get best results. The pocket weight should be used on
inside of foot for winging in and on outside of foot for a
paddler.
L. ANKLE HITTING OR INTERFERING.
There are so many different causes for this that there
is no fixed rule in shoeing that will apply to all cases. I
have seen horses cutting their hind ankles from the fol-
lowing causes : the foot or feet too high on the inside, the
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foot or feet too high on the outside, the foot or feet too long
at the toe, and too low at the heels, all out of proportion
as to the correct angle. Horses that are weak, low in flesh,
and worked beyond their physical capacity, when not able
to perform their daily task without getting leg weary, con-
formation of some horses makes them brush, box, or cut
their hind ankles.
The conformation that makes a very bad ankle hitter is
one where the horse stands wedge shaped from his hips
down to where his feet rest on the ground. This kind of a
horse will stand with his hind feet close together or against
one another when at rest, horses of this conformation and
without much hock action are the very worst in this respect.
The same treatment will not apply to all cases of ankle
hitting. Unbalanced feet are the main cause for all ankle
hitting, when not caused by some deformity. A farrier
with a good eye and good judgment, on examination of the
hind feet, will find out the main cause of the trouble. Keep
the toes of all ankle hitters as short as possible for the
shorter the leverage to break over and leave the ground
from, the straighter the line of action of the leg will be ; a
middling high heel, and a very short toe is the best. If the
foot or feet are too high on the inside, lower the insides to
a level with the outside, and shoe with a heel calk, hot rasp
the inside of shoes to a bevel. If you find the foot or feet
too high on the outside lower the outside to a level with
the inside, if either foot is winged out, wider on one side
of the leg than the other, edge the foot up until you have
an equal portion of the foot on both sides of the frog
measuring from the center of the frog. This rule applies to
all feet in foot fixing. Shoe the same as above stated.
I have seen horses cutting their ankles very bad on
account of their heels being too low, and their toes too long.
I have stopped this kind of ankle cutting by raising their
heels with a side heelcalk seven-eighths of an inch high
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and no toe calk. An ankle cutter, on account of the inside
of feet being too low, and where I could not cut the outside
of foot low enough to compare with the inside, I have got
good results by welding a calk along the inside of the hind
shoe or shoes between the first and third inside nails to
make up the deficiency. A horse that boxes his ankles
jogging sluggishly will go good in short toes, with a square
toe shoe and heel calks.
A horse that cuts his ankles should not be checked too
high but should go in a natural manner without being made
to carry his head too high. The hold-back straps should
never be too tight for this hugs their quarters together and
that creates interfering. A horse that is a hard puller on
the lines, when hitched to a light vehicle has a tendency to
box his ankles on account of the hold-back straps hugging
his quarters together.
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IN CONCLUSION.
If you have carefully read thus far you may feel
conscious that I have repeated and reiterated again and
again certain things in relation to "fixing feet". If I have
done this more than to you seems necessary, it is because
of the importance of the things repeated, and because of my
desire to impress my readers with their importance.
If you find herein anything that you are specially inter-
ested in, that to you may seem cloudy or involved, and not
clear, I will be pleased to clarify and elucidate any point
by correspondence.
My life study and work has been in connection with
the thing about which I have herein written. I have been
always, and am now, intensely and vitally interested in this
subject, and my reason for putting my ideas into print is
because of my extreme interest in the trotting and pacing
race horse, and also because of a hope that by widening,
and extending to others, the horizon of my experiences, by
the means of a printed book, I may help many a sore horse,
as well as many a discouraged trainer and driver and owner.
WILLIAM J. MOORE,
Pittsfield,
Berkshire County,
Tune 1916. Massachusetts.
-63-
Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at
Tufts University
200 Westboro Road
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