HOESE-SHOEING AS IT IS

(Late) IOth Royal Hussars

' Whoever hath charge of a horse's feet, has the caro of his whole body.'

_I)P-., -, Old Saying

JOHN |^EEA^^E^�RLlf|pEET

Prinled ly R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh.

Passikg down Ludgate Hill one day, my atten-
tion was directed to the pitiful condition of a
horse in the shafts of a large waggon. The poor
animal was not drawing the load, but was being
driven down the descent by the crushing weight
behind, and, utterly unable, from the manner in
which it was shod, to withstand tins pressure, it
had gathered its hind legs well under, and its
fore legs well in advance of its body, in a helpless
struggle to avert the fall, which it too evidently
knew was at hand. Never did I witness such a
picture of powerless terror as that horse presented,
as with eyes starting, body shalcmg, and limbs
stiffened, it was carried downwards against its
will, until the fore and hind feet slipping in the
same direction, it came down upon its left side
with a crash.

The thought of what agony that poor beast
must h�ve suffered even before it fell has haunted
me ever since, and knowing if the horse had but
been able to use the supple elastic cushion nature

has provided its feet with to prevent their slip-
ping�namely the frog�it could h�ve easily con-
trolled the pressure from beliind, I resolved if
possible to direct public attention to the pr�sent
cruel and unwarrantable System of shoeing horses,
believing it is only necessary for owners of horses,
etc., to understand something of the anatomy and
structure of the horse's foot to cause a more
humane and sensible method to be adopted.

The aim of this book, therefore, is to show
that horse-shoeing is no mystery, and that masters,
and owners of horses, and grooms, may effectually
avert injury to the horse and suffering to the
animal, by knowledge of a few simple rules.

5 Pkarson Street, Battersea,
londo.n, s.w.

Injurious Effects of bad Shoeing�Good Qualities of the Horse�The
danger and uselessness of Bearing-reins�Similarity between their
use and the Farrier's customary Shoeing tactics � Disadvantages
of heavy Horse Shoes� The benefit which light Shoes confer�
" An ounce at the Heel tells more than a pound on the Back "�
Knowledge of Shoeing generally possessed by Grooms and Farriers
�Mischievous System of giving discount to Servants�Power for
good and evil which inust remain in the hands of Grooms and
Coachmen�How Owners of Horses are treated if they attempt to
interf�re in the Stable management�Lord Pembroke's opinion on
this point�Eemarks of Xenophon, Virgil, and Vegetius on the
natural Hardness of Horse's Hoofs�The great antiquity of Horse-
Shoes questioned�Eeprehensible practice of Horses standing on
litter during the day�Strengtheuing Qualities of Cold Water, the
only natural application for Cooling, Cleansing, and promoting the.
Growth of Horn�Pernicious Habit of applying Grease or Tar to the
Horse's Hoof, and results ..... Pages 1-17

THE FOOT OF THE HORSE�ITS EXTERIOE.

The "Horn-box," and how, as a rule, the Farrier treats it�The vari-
ous parts of the Foot, their Functions, and what part requires
protection or annour�How the Growth of the diff�rent parts go
on�Description of the fibrous nature of the Crust�Uses of the
Frog, Sole, and Bars, their Shape, Elasticity, etc.�More about the
Crust�The Interior of the " Horn-box "�Plain Keasons for not
Cutting away any parts of the Frog, Sole, or Bars�The structure
of the Frog, and its many uses further explained�Semi-vaulted
form of the Insensitive Sole, and what it proteets�Is a Horse's

Foot half-cloven ?�Advantages of its Shape�Winch part of the
Hoof requires to be protected ? � Width of Web and Weight of
Shoes�Disinclination of Farriers to changes�The porous nature
of Horn�Necessity of the pores in it being left open in order not
only to permit Air to enter, but to allow Moisture froin the interior
of the Foot to pass out�Age to which Horses ought to reach�
Bad Shoeing the greatest shortener of a Horse's existence

THE INTERIOR PARTS OF THE FOOT.

Sensitive portions of the Horse's Foot�Besemblance in this respect
between th�se and the parts under the human Toe and Finger-nails
�The process of change continually going on from the interior to
the outward part of the Horse's Foot�Shape and Uses of the
diff�rent Bones considered�Action of the back and front Sinews�
Production and spring-like uses of the Laminte�Injurious Effect
of compression upon the Interior parts of the Foot�How the Frog,
when healthy, acting as an Expander, neutralises Contraction,
besides acting as a preventer of Concussion�The Evils which
resuit from Contraction�Effect of Grease upon the Horn, etc.�
D�rivation of the word Frog � How the ordinary Shoeing-smith
pr�pares the Foot for Shoeing�More about the Frog ; Heel-calks
and Wide-webhed Shoes�-Cure of Thrush and Dropsole � Mr.
Greaves' exp�rience......Pages 35-45

THE PRESENT METHOD OF PREPARING THE HORSE'S FOOT
FOR SHOEING.

English and French System of Shoeing � Charges for Shoeing in
Gloucestershire, Cheshire, and London�Farrier's Costs and Profits
�How the Shoes are usually removed from the Horse's feet�
�Contrast between Healthy and Unhealthy Frogs before and a/ter
the knife�Fitting and Mailing on of the Shoe�Importance of the
varnish,-like substance that covers the outside of the Crust�In-
jurious cons�quences of Rasping .... Pages 46-55

THE PROPOSED METHOD OF PREPARING THE FOOT FOR
THE SHOE.

Natural form of a Horse's Foot�Old writers, names of, who h�ve
advocated Frog-pressure�The diff�rent functions of the various
parts of the Horse's Hoof�Natural progressive movement of a
Horse's foot when at a Walk or at a Trot�lllogical reason for the
Farrier's thiekening Iron, thinking thereby to decrease the Wear
�Effect quite the reverse : the "Wear increased�Absurdity of con-
sidering the man who makes the Shoe superior to the one who
pr�pares the Foot for Shoeing and nails the Shoe on�How a
Farrier should proceed to Shoe a Horse�Figure of a nearly perfect
Foot prepared for Shoeing�How Frog-pressure may be attained,
illustrated. by two figures�Destructive Effect of applying a red-
hot Shoe to the Foot, instanced by the case of Mr. Bevan's Horse
" Hue and Cry "�How to obtain a Level-bearing without Burning
the Shoe into its place�How the Shoe should be Nailed on ;
number of Nails necessary, etc. � Heel-calks, and what they
lead to�Examples�Eesponsibility of Owners�Mr. Lawrence's
opinion........Pages 56-71

FARRIERS' TOOLS AND THEIR SEPARATE USES.

THE PRESERVATION OF THE HOOF.

How essential Cleanliness and Coolness are to keep the Hoof in a Sound
healthy state�Detrimental Effect of Tar or Grease upon Horn�A
Groom's argument for applying grease to the Hoof�Cow-dung
injurious as an application to "stop" Horse's feet with, being of
a Heating instead of a Cooling nature�Some old ineffective pre-
scriptions for Softening the Horn�Water the only Improver�
Heating properties of Bedding, its injurious Effect upon the Horn
of the Hoof�Cavalry troop Horses that are not bedded down

during the day enjoying better Health than Officers' Chargers that
h�ve their Stalls carpeted with Straw � What Lord Pembroke
stated on this subject a century since � Advantages of good
Ventilation.......Pages 77-82

OE DISEASES THAT MAY BE ATTRIBUTED TO SHOEING.

Contraction the principal cause of Corns : the Remedy, Frog Pressure
�Cure of the Horse " Captain "�Thrush and Greasy Heels ascrib-
able to the same cause that produees Corns�Cure to be sought for
by similar Means�The fatal Cons�quences of Rasping illustrated in
a Malformed Hoof, shown at the International Exhibition of 1871
�Perfect and linperfect Hoof described�Remarkable sp�cimen of
a Section of a Malformed Hoof�Progressive Growth of the Horn�
Natural action of the diff�rent parts of a Horse's Foot described�
More about the evil Cons�quences which Contraction prom�tes�
Mutilation of the Frog the true cause of Navicular Disease�Mis-
chievous Cons�quences of Contraction upon the Bones of the Foot
�The necessity of detecting the first Symptoms of Contraction of
the H�rn, and an easy Method for Grooms to discover when the
Shape of a Horse's Foot begins to alter�Brushing, Overreaching,
and Speedy-cut ; their Cause and Cure�Dangerous as well as
useless Contrivanee, namely, thickening one Side of the Shoe, to
obviate Cutting or Brushing, etc.�Shoeing perfectly level the only
Remedy�Laminites, or Foimder, what chiefly due to, etc.

SOME SUGGESTIONS HOW A SCIENTIFIG KNOWLEDGE OF THE
HORSE'S FOOT COULD BEST BE ACQUIRED BY FARRIERS.

The dislike to a change of System which most Farriers feel, they pre-
ferring to let things remain as they are and h�ve been�What con-
stitutes a good Shoeing-smith�What is considered by the Trade
generally to do so�The Farrier Foreman of the Veterinary Coll�ge,
Glasgow, feat in Shoe-making, etc.�The too pr�valent Ignorance
of the Physiological parts of a Horse's Foot among Farriers�The

sp�cifie, Education�Intelligence no drawback to any good Work-
man, but the contrary�Why sliould the Farrier who puts the
iron Shoe into shape be better paid than his Fellow who has to
pr�pare the Foot and nail the Shoe to it ?�Knowledge the best
means for getting Farriers to feel a true interest in their Work
and the Animais they h�ve to shoe�The cons�quent Importance
of knowing what has to be shod�The beauty and usefulness of
every part of a Horse's Foot commented upon�Drunkenness the
cause of much Ignorance as well as Cruelty among Farriers�The
establishment of a Horse Shoe Company that would shoe on
humane common-sense principles, and who would only employ
Abstainers from alcoholic Drinks, advocated . Pages 101-111

ABOUT HORSE SHOES, OLD AND NEW.

Pr�judice of Farriers against New Shoes�Sir W. Hope on the Panton
Shoe�Description of M. La Fosse's "Lunette" Horse Shoe�Mr.
Osmer's "seated" Shoe, Mr. Colman's Shoe�Question, does the
Horse's Foot expand or contract when in motion, or does it do
neither the one nor the other ?�Horse Shoes made from time to time
to admit of expansion, namely, Mr. Bracey Clarke's jointed Shoe,
and Messrs. Eotche, Harris, and Lanty's Expanding Shoes�Their
Failure and Cause�Sir John Eogers' Screw Shoe�Description of
Messrs. Woodin, Palmer, and Gray's patent Horse Shoes �
Colonel Fitzwygram and Mr. Haycock's proposed Fore Shoes,
having them made at the Toes to resemble old Shoes�Non-likeli-
hood of them answering�Mr. Fleming's Shoe, and its resemblance
to the Shoe Mr. Coleman recommended long ago�Mr. Fleming's
Remarks about Coleman's ability�Farrier's Expenses for Iron,
Labour, etc. etc., to shoe a Horse ail round, and what it ought to
cost the Customer�Difflculty of getting Farriers in the Army�
Examples of this, even Tailors turning Shoeing-smiths�Lord
Napier of Magdala's remarks, and Extract of a Letter from the
Principal Veterinary Surgeon of India, upon the Ineompetency of
Army Farriers�Extract from the Veterinarian to the same purpose
�Advantages of Machine-made Horse Shoes for the Army, as their
introduction into the Service would not only lessen the difficulty,
but be a saving to the Country of over �40,000 per annum

THE CHAUSS�E HORSE SHOE.

The pr�vention of Slipping one of the chief things striven for in nearly
ail Horse Shoes�This insurcd in the Chauss�e Horse Shoe by the
insertion of an Elastic Substance in the Groove or Fuller of the
Shoe�The m�re act of putting the Shoe on tlie ground not the
chief cause of Wear, but the Slipping � Advantages of the
Chauss�e Horse Shoe in lessening Concussion, the prolifie cause
of Eingbones, Spavins, and Splints�Being a Machine-made Shoe
it would be cheaper than a Hand-made one, while the gutta-
percl'.a fixed in the groove would add much to its Wear and little
to its "Weight.......Pages 143-148

BENEITCIAL EFFECT OF KINDNESS UPON HORSES.

The Eesult that kind Treatment has upon the Horse�His Intelligence,
and the Affection he displays towards those who use him kindly�
What 111-usage and Neglect causes him to become, namely, Slow
of Pace, Stupid, and Spiteful�Description of a good Groom�The
��fr�quent barbarous Treatment of young Horses on being first
Shod�The Tyranny and Cruelty often practised by Carmen and
Coachmen�How diff�rent Asiatics and Arabs use their Horses�
The Simplicity and Timidity which are characteristics of ail young
Horses�How to replace Simplicity by Intelligence, and Timidity
by Trustfulness in the Animais�Conclusion Pages 149-157

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Section of a Horse's Foot

Two figures of the Horn Box that covers the Foot

Two figures of Frogs (1) before ; (2) and after the Knife page 49

A nearly perfect Foot prepared for shoeing

Two figures, showing Feet shod, with Frogs down

Some Farriers' Tools ....

Remarkable sp�cimen of a section of a Horse's Hoof

To illustrate the Charlier Shoe and System

To illustrate the Goodenough Shoe and system

The Chauss�e Horse Shoe, with section thereof

Philip Astley, in his now almost forgotten book on
Horsemanship, very justly remarks, " Certainly he that
prevents disease does more than he that cures," and
whoever lias had the opportunity of observing tlie dis-
eases which render horses unserviceable, must feel con-
vinced of the applicability of this maxim to the pr�sent
subject. It is well known that three-fourths of those
ailments are due to some defect or injury to the feet,
which could in many instances be traced to bad shoeing ;
and it is a matter for censure, as well as regret, that evils
in our method of shoeing should flourish at the pr�sent
day nearly as much as they did two centuries ago.

It certainly seems strange, that while the structure
of the human hand lias at ail times been a subject for
much and deserved admiration, the foot of the horse
from a similar point of view has failed to become an
equal subject for wonder. And when we recall the
notably noble qualities of the animal, the courage, speed,
strength, endurance, and docility of this incomparably
best friend of man, our astonishment must materially
increase. Combining the courage of the lion with the
fleetness of the stag, the strength of the ox with the
docility and affection of the dog, he daily and hourly

A.A. CRUST OR WALL.
B.B. INSENSITIVE LAMIN/E.
C.C. SENSITIVE LAMIN/E.

D. INSENSITIVE SOLE.

E. SENSITIVE SOLE.
F.F. INSENSITIVE FROG.

I. LARGE PASTERN BONF

K. SMALL PASTERN BONE

N.N. FLEXOR PERFORANS TENDON.

O. SEAT OF NAVICULAR DISEASE.

ungrudgingly performs such unselfish services to his
master, as should call forth the gratitude of ail', who,
either as owners or servants, h�ve to do with him.
Surely, then, it ought not only to be a duty but a
pleasure for us to make such a willing slave as happy
and comfortable as it is in our power to do ; and feel-
ing in the performance that we could not do too much
for one so deserving of the utmost sympathy and kind-
ness at our hands. But I am sorry to say that, so far
from this being the case, it is too often quite the reverse ;
and stranger to add, he frequently suff'ers as much from
ill-advised kindnesses as he does from cruelty. With
the wrongly perverse idea that lie needs holding up to
his work, his head is tied to his collar by a long strap,
termed " a bearing rein" which is so adjusted, that if he
makes but one false step, he must fall helplessly to the
ground. Ignorant selfish humanity will not perceive
that from a horse's head to the tip of his tail is a s�ries
of joints, every one of which, when the horse is in
motion, requires to h�ve free play ; and that it is as
necessary for a horse to turn his head, neck, and tail,
when in active motion, as it is for ourselves to h�ve the
use of our arms when walking or running.

By somewhat similar tactics we cover the bottom
of his feet with wide thick pi�ces of circular iron, so
constructed as to give " good cover" to a part that nature
has sufficiently protected. Nature, who never errs, has
placed at the extremities of horses' legs pillars of horn
for the animal to stand upon ; that being a substance
which, possessing the two essentia�s of lightness and

strength, is peculiarly well adapted for the purpose. That
lightness is an essential of paramount importance at the
end of a long lever like a horse's leg, is a fact most people,
I should imagine, will readily admit, and yet, despite this
fact, we allow the light but strong protection to be eut
away and replaced by a wide pi�ce of iron, often weighing
five pounds, and in some instances as much as seven.

But the heaviness of the m�tal attached to do duty
for much of what has in most instances been ignorantly
removed, is not the only evil. " The horny substance on
the feet of animais," as Sir Thomas More termed the
hoof, is, when healthy, largely endowed with the property
of elasticity, and this being the case we can easily imagine
how much the natural play of the foot is impeded when
a wide iron shoe is attached to it. If this much is granted,
we h�ve only to keep in mind that the horn is not only
an elastic but an expanding substance, in so much as
there is going on a continuai growth of horn, while the
m�tal shoe, in its cold hardened state when attached to
the foot, remains in form unchanged, to be aware that one
or the other must give, when our common sens� tells us
it will be the horn.

That shoeing, from the nature of our roads, is a neces-
sity, I will at once conc�de, but at the same tinie I feel
bound to state that the evil should be kept within cer-
tain limita, so far as the width, length, and weight of
horse shoes are concerned. It is a common but delusive
idea that heavy horses require much heavier shoes in pro-
portion to their size than what light horses do. Now if
we only remember that cart and other large horses h�ve

feet in every way proportionate to their bodies, we at once
perceive the absurdity of making a dray horse drag about
with him shoes weighing five or even seven pounds a-
piece, while a shoe that weighs ten or twelve ounces is
considered sufficiently heavy for a riding horse to be shod
with. Why should there not be a limit to the weight of
iron every description of horse had to carry on his feet
seems a natural question to ask, a limit when exceeded
that ought to be punishable with a penalty for every
offence. The scale might be as follows :�

It does not follow because a dray horse is twice the
weight of a hunter, that the former requires shoes seven
times heavier than the latter, in faet, as the horn on
their hoofs is of strength in proportion to the relative
size of the animais, their shoes need only be made in
strength and thickness according to a similar ratio. In
my opinion a heavy shoe helps to wear itself out, as a
horse so overweighted must travel much harder than he
would do if he wore a lighter description of shoe. To
show, however, that I am not advocating what is practi-
cally impossible, I will relate a case in point. The
directors of one of our railway companies, being desirous
of testing the truths which the believers of shoeing on
natural principles assert, had some truck and van horses

shod with narrow webbed shoes. In this experiment
the frogs, soles, and bars, were left in their entirety, none
of the horn being removed by the farrier's knife, except
that portion of the crust which had grown since the
previous shoeing. The old set of shoes when taken off
weighed 17 lbs. 14 oz., while the new narrow-webbed
ones put on, weighed only 10 lbs. the set ; therefore we
may easily assume that the original weight of the one
set of shoes was at least double that of the other. And
what was the resuit ? Why, that the light shoes wore
longer than the heavy ones had done ; the average wear
of the former being four weeks and five days each shoe,
while the latter wore but three weeks on an average.
But it is not the wear of iron so "much as the wear of
horse-flesh that I am anxious to direct attention to now.
It will be seen, as the shoes that were taken off must
h�ve weighed 5 lbs. a-piece when new, those horses
were at once benefited by having 10 lbs. less iron each
to carry about with them. I will not attempt to
calculate what diff�rence 2| lbs. of m�tal placed at the
end of a lever two and a half feet long would be �qui-
valent to, but will simply look at it as 10 lbs. extra
weight carried by each of th�se animais. A horse when
walking lifts his feet ail round about thirty times a
minute, and if we allow his day's work to last eight
hours, the diff�rence in favour of the lighter shod
animais is over 64 tons, as under :�

30 X 10 = 300 lbs. per minute.

300 X 60 = 18,000 � � hour.
18,000 X 8 = 144,000 � � day of 8 hours =
above, 64 tons�to be lifted unneeessarily.

Another noticeable improvement was observable in the
step of the horses, who, with the lighter shoes on, lifted
their feet much higher and more gracefully than ever
they had been known to do before. This, however, only
proved the truth of the old saying, that "An ounce at
the heel tells more than a pound on the back."

Before going further, I must state that this essay is
not intended for the instruction of veterinary surgeons,
who, of course, know more of the subject than I can tell
them. My object is simply to initiate owners of horses
in the System not only of shoeing from the common-
sense points of view, but likewise to give them some
idea of the structure, conformation, and proper functions
of the diff�rent parts of the horse's foot. Therefore, in
following out this purpose, I shall endeavour to avoid as
much as possible technical language, depending on the
more simple words to explain my meaning, in the hope
that an elementary style will be easier understood by
those for whose benefit this treatise has principally been
written, i. e., for ail who own or h�ve the care of horses.

There are two classes of men who, from their re-
spective avocations in being always connected with
horses, are credited by the public generally with having
a consid�rable amount of knowledge as to the ailments
of th�se animais, and yet who generally know but little ;
therefore it will not be out of place perhaps for me to
mention them first. I refer to grooms and farriers, the
majority of whom, beyond being able to tell a horse's
�ge up to a certain period, h�ve, as a rule, in other
respects, notably foot diseases and the principles of

shoeing, but a limited amount of knowledge. Ignorance
is presumably at the root of th�se evils, and until it is
incumbent on shoeing-smiths, coachmen, etc., to learn
more about the physiological study of a horse's foot, it
is to be feared matters will not much improve. Farriers,
as a class, are not an exceptionally well-informed one,
and it has often seemed to me a surprising thing that
this should be so. Possibly they h�ve a compl�te
answer to my remark on their lack of knowledge of
matters connected with their own particular province,
and I should be glad to learn they h�ve. To my idea
the man who only pursues his trade or profession from
no higher motive than to satisfy his appetite, and sup-
ply himself with lodging and clothing, is a man much
to be pitied, for I consider nothing ennobles the mind
more, or makes existence more delightful, than the feel-
ing of being a necessary portion of the community, a
portion that if removed it would be difficult to replace.
Now, whoever has to do with horses may be in this
position if they chose only to be kind and attentive to
the animais they h�ve in their charge. I h�ve known
men in the army refuse promotion because that would
h�ve separated theni from their steeds, their tried
companions for years. It was not of themselves they
thought, they could h�ve borne the s�paration, but
what they feared was, that their old chargers would
not fare so well with new masters as they had done
with them, the old ones. Doubtless grooms and coach-
men may be found who h�ve refused better situations
for precisely similar reasons, and if so, such men are

very valuable. The pr�valent idea, however, is, that
grooms, coachmen, and farriers, are usually neither kind
enough nor forbearing enough to horses under their
care. Yet the latter are the very men to whose tender
mercies and judgment we are obliged to entrust the care
of our horse's health, for in the words of the old saying,
placed on the title-page of this essay, " Whoever hath
charge of a horse's feet has the care of his whole body."

This nescience in many grooms and coachmen of horse-
shoeing is much to be regretted, while the mischievous
System of farriers giving a percentage to servants on
shoeing-bills is a matter even more to be deplored, as it
is the bad tradesmen who give most discount. Perhaps,
as is alleged, some gentlemen do not pay those who
h�ve the care of their horses sufficiently, for the very
reason that they, the masters, know their coachmen
and grooms add to their wages by demanding contribu-
tions from the tradesmen who shoe or forage the horses, or
supply coaches, saddlery, and harness. In such instances,
however, I believe it would be found more economical
to raise the wages upon the direct understanding with
both tradesmen and servants that no discount was either
to be offered or received, the penalties being the with-
drawal of custom on the one hand and instant dismissal
on the other. Under such r�gulations the pri�es now
charged, I believe, would fall, when released from the
percentage impost, proportionally far lower than it
would be necessary to augment the groom or coach-
man's wages.

The power for good or evil, which to a great extent

must always remain in the hands of servants who h�ve
charge of horses, renders it ail the more necessary they
should be made to understand that the welfare of their
four-footed friends d�pends quite as much upon th�se
heing shod on humane common-sense principles as upon
good feeding and grooming. And from Englishmen
being naturally fond of horses, I feel convinced if
coachmen and grooms can be but made to understand
�and no reason exists why they should not�how
essential it is for a horse's foot to be allowed to remain
in as near its natural state as possible, they will become
as anxious as their masters in a cause which at pr�sent
they regard with distrust, if not dislike.

And if it is imperative for grooms to understand
something of the farrier's art, it is more binding upon
owners to acquire a like information, because it affects
their interests more. A gentleman should be able not
only to tell whether any complaint made by his groom
against the farrier was correct or not, but also to detect
anything wrong in the shoeing, which an idle or an un-
principled servant might wish to conceal. Unfortunately,
ail gentlemen h�ve not the time to look after their stud
strictly, and some who h�ve ventured to interf�re with
this�their servant's particular province�h�ve not been
very successful. With a certain description of grooms
and coachmen any attempt by their master of this
kind is met with by a regular system of annoyance, or,
as this class terms it, blistering, which soon tires the
master out. For instance, if a gentleman changes his
farrier without this sort of groom's sanction, or ventures

to insist upon having Lis liorses shod in any particular
way, the blister is applied at once. " From early morn
till dewy eve " nothing but accidents are reported, such
as "The chestnut was downagain this morning, sir; can't
stand on his legs with them new shoes ;" or it is, " The
bay mare is cutting frightfully behind, told you how it
would be, sir, if you got So and So to shoe for you ;" or
else it is, " The dun cob's gone as lame as a cat since lie
was shod yesterday ; " and so the blister is applied until
the ge ntleman, for the sake of peace and quietness, tells
his groom or coachman to take the horses to J�richo,
and h�ve them shod how and by whom he likes.

If this was a m�re matter of pounds, shillings, and
pence to owners, as regards the shoeing of their horses,
I should h�ve been loathe to speak so plainly as I h�ve
done ; but when I think of the immense suffering that
those best friends of man endure, daily and hourly,
perhaps through the ignorance of d�pendants, I feel
that in the interests of humanity I must not only speak,
but speak plainly, and I herewith appeal to ail owners
of horses to assist in putting down the pr�sent state of
things. There is really nothing, it will be seen, in
horse-shoeing or horse-management which any one
could not acquire a better knowledge of in six months
than some famers and grooms now possess ; and when
really masters, by knowledge as well as by position,
owners will find themselves to h�ve acquired by this
knowledge not only a greater amount of respect from
their servants, but that their horses' health and condition
h�ve improved as well.

I do not wish it, however, to be supposed that th�se
sentiments of mine are at ail novel. A hundred years ago
the Eaii of Pembroke drew public attention to the same
facts : " Whoever," his lordship wrote, " lets his farrier,
groom, or coachman, even mention anything more than
water-gruel, a clyster, or a little bleeding, and that too
very seldom, or pr�tend to talk of the nature of the
feet, of the seat of lameness, sicknesses, or their cures,
may be certain to find himself very shortly and very
absurdly quite on foot. It is incredible what tricking
knaves most stable-people are, and what daring attempts
they will make to gain an ascendant over their masters,
in order to h�ve their own foolish projects complied
with. In shoeing, for example, I h�ve more than once
known that, for the sake of establishing their own
ridiculous and pernicious system, when their masters
h�ve differed from it, they h�ve on purpose lamed
horses, and imputed the fault to the shoes, after having
in vain tried, by every sort of invention and lies, to
discr�dit the use of them."

Having pointed out th�se serious evils, I will now
proceed with my subject, and after giving a short de-
scription of horse-shoeing in early times, point out how
essentially necessary a proper shoe and style of shoeing
is to the natural spring and action of the horse's foot,
for upon th�se facts the whole matter rests.

The most careful investigation into the past history
of horse-shoes leads me to believe that farriery as an art
nas but little claim to antiquity. Horse shoes, ap-
parently, were unknown to the Greeks, and if to them,

to ail other nations of earlier �ges. Xenophon, who
wrote the most compl�te work on horsemanship of his
day, makes no mention of horse-shoes, while, on the
other hand, he is particularly explicit as to the means
to be taken to harden and toughen horses' boofs.
Specially for this purpose is a particular kind of stone
pavement recommended, the advantages of which he
has thus described : " It will cool, harden, and improve
a horse's feet merely by his standing upon it, while the
same benefit will resuit to bis hoofs as if he were made
to travel on stony roads every day." Another writer,
Vegetius, holds forth in a similar strain, informing us
"That the floor of the stable should not be made of
soft wood, but of solid hard'oak, which will make the
horses' hoofs as hard as rocks." The testimonv of Virgil
is to the like effect, when he writes " Cavatque tellurem
et solide graviter sonat ungula cornu," or, as we may
freely translate it, "The horse by the hardness of his
horn hoofs, causes the ground to re-echo when he paws
it in his strength."

Corning down to later tim�s, the earliest record we
h�ve of iron shoes being used for horses is in the de-
scription of a shoe said to h�ve belonged to the horse of
Childeric, who lived A.D. 481. Mr. Beranger, in his in-
teresting book about horses, mentions that an account of
this shoe is preserved in " Montfaueon's Antiquities of
France;" and from the drawing which accompanies the
description it perfectly resembles the shoes used at
pr�sent (1768) in that country. The same writer in-
forms us "That the Kalmuck horses are never shod,

nor does it appear " says he " that shoes are necessary ;
the climate being very dry and the soil hard, the hoof is
likewise so solid and indurated that nothing can hurt
it." Farther on he writes, "the antients did not shoe
their horses ; that is to say they did not nail upon their
hoofs any pi�ces of iron, or of other m�tal in the form
and shape of the modem horse-shoes, but when they in-
tended to d�fend them from anything that might annoy
them in travelling, or the hardness of the ground, they
fastened upon their feet, by means of straps and liga-
tures, a sort of sandal stocking, or what we call boots.
Th�se were made of sedges twisted together like a mat,
or else of leather, and were sometimes strengthened
with plates of iron, and adorned by rich and ostentatious
people with silver and gold, as in the instances of Nero
and Poppsea. In the collection of the late Baron Socks'
postes of antique stones, there is one which represents a
soldier binding or tying on this sort of shoe."

Shoeing of horses has therefore been apparently only
a necessity for the last few centuries, from which it may
be concluded that the horse has been trained to h�ve
feet so tender and fragile as to make the use of iron as
a protection to the horn compulsory. And with such
facts before us, we might easily conclude that iron horse-
shoes, only used at first to protect the feet of horses
where the horn was unnaturally weak, had from this
partial introduction gradually extended to ail. But
even now, in the Orkneys, in the mountains of Wales,
the wilds of Exmoor and Dartmoor, many parts of
the continent of Europe, and in a consid�rable por-

tion of the rest of the globe, horses and ponies run
about over rocks, through ravines, and up precipitous
ridges unshod. Yet this is ail done without difficulty
and to the �vident advantage of their hoofs, for th�se
animais never suffer from contracted feet, or from corns,
sand-cracks, etc., until they h�ve become civilised, and
been shod. Yet we continue cutting away more and
more horn, and putting on more and more cover�how I
detest that word�without ever perceiving that when
doing so we are acting in direct opposition to nature.
Goats do not suffer from navicular disease or contracted
feet, yet I firmly believe that if the expei�ment of
shoeing with iron was but tried upon them, in a very
few g�n�rations they would be as great sufferers from
those diseases as horses are now.

It is precisely the same ignorant System carried out
in close stables, carpeted with straw at ail times, that
now-a-days makes our horses so sensitive to every
change in the weather, although in a state of nature
no animal�not excepting the dog even�can stand cold
of the utmost severity so well. The System of hot
stables, and the horses always standing upon bedding,
bears influenza as its fruit. This tells equally against
the growth of healthy horn on the horses' hoofs, which
being intended to carry them over hard roads or rocky
paths in safety,�we, to ensure this, from the moment a
horse is foaled, keep him either in grass fields soft to
tread upon, or in warm stables standing on soft straw,
and then we are surprised that his hoofs should become
dry and brittle, instead of keeping moist, tough, and hard.

It is a remarkable fact that cavalry troop horses, which
are not bedded down during the day, never suffer so
much from corns, contraction, thrush, and grease, as the
officers' chargers do, which h�ve straw to stand upon
whenever they are in the stable. We may d�pend that
whatever bas a tendency to heat the horn is injurious
and leads to contraction, that most prolific of foot dis-
eases ; and therefore straw-carpeted stalls are hurtful to
the animais, which the coldest flooring of stables can
never be.

Water, again�and too much of it cannot be applied
to the feet and legs�is far before any other treatment
for most diseases affecting those parts ; because, being
the natural appliance to horses' hoofs, and at the same
time cooling to the legs and strengthening and bracing
to the muscles, its action on those parts inust always
prove b�n�ficiai. The practice of washing down horses'
legs, therefore, with cold water when they corne off a
journey or from work not over severe cannot be suffi-
ciently commended, provided that the legs are well
rubbed afterwards, when they will soon dry. Grooms
use warm water and bandages ; but as warm water only
relaxes the sinews, in most instances already overstrained
by exertion, the very coldness in the legs and feet are
produced which the warm water and the bandages are
intended to prevent. I am aware that Colonel Fitzwyg-
ram, in his otherwise excellent book upon horse-shoeing,
objects to washing down, under the impression that this
treatment produces cracked heels ; but so far from this
being the case it is found practically to be quite the

reverse. In India, for instance, horses are exposed to
heavy rains for weeks together, without taking any ill
effects and in the finest of weather there, the ghora-
wallahs use little other means to keep their horses clean
than washing them down daily ail over.

In regard to horse-shoeing, I am confident that one-
half of the difficulty would immediately disappear if
owners of horses would but bestow the same careful
attention to the work of the farrier that they do to
grooming and other matters. In the interests of
humanity alone an alt�ration has become imperative, for
however necessary it may be to protect the hoofs of
horses by rims of iron, it is certainly scandalous to first
destroy the horn by rasping, paring, and burning, and
afterwards nail on great wide and heavy shoes to sup-
ply the defect or want of that substance which had
been ruthlessly destroyed.

A r�f�rence to the " contents " at the beginning will
show how the subject will be treated. In the first
chapter, for instance, I will endeavour to point out that
most of the diseases to which horses' feet are liable may
be traced to the inconsiderate method commonly
practised in shoeing them, combined with the hurtful
treatment the hoofs are subjected to in the stables.
Parriers in g�nerai are so desirous to excel in neat work,
and grooms in having the neatness done to pattern,
which, when combined with the pernicious habit of
greasing the horn to make it shine, that the wonder is
not only that one-third of our horses become lame in
cons�quence of this treatment, but that the whole of

them are not incapacitated by it for work. If a tiorse's
foot is dry and brittle, the groom covers it with grease
or bees'-wax, destroying the vitality of the horn thereby ;
and the farrier, not to be behind hand in his share of the
punishment, covers the foot with a heavy iron shoe.
A very little knowledge of the structure of a horse's
foot would inform th�se men that grease, by stopping
the pores in the horn, prevented the air from acting bene-
ficially upon its surface, and that the foot, winch before
could scarcely carry itself, would be quite unable after-
wards to carry so much additional weight of iron.

The remedy remains in the hands of gentlemen who
own horses ; let theirs be the study how a horse should
be shod, and how cared for ; and then, being able to in-
struct their grooms and farriers�they, the owners, will
earn the rich reward of having prevented much suffering
from being inflicted upon th�se noble animais ; besides
keeping them not only in better condition for work but
in better health as well.

18 THE FOOT OF THE HOESE :

THE FOOT OF THE HOESE�ITS EXTEEIOB.

Befoee entering upon the subject of shoeing, it would
be d�sirable perhaps to describe what has to be shod.
This is the hoof ; a part of the foot which, to the super-
ficial observer, pr�sents but little scope for study,�simply
a horn box to cover the interior parts and protect them
from injury ; its structure�whether fibrous or otherwise,
is seldom inquired into, even by those whose whole
study it ought to be to do so. A farrier picks up a
horse's foot preparatory to shoeing, not for the purpose
of detecting any malformation, and then striving to put
on a shoe that will remedy existing defects, but only to
look at the size, and see if he has a set of shoes ready-
made which will answer. If he has not the exact
article he either cuts down a larger or draws out a
smaller shoe to the requisite size, burns it into its
position, and nails it on, without ever considering it a
subject for reflection whether the horn will not be in-
jured by the application of strong heat, or if contraction
of the foot will not necessarily follow when an ill-formed
or badly adjusted shoe is thus attached to it.

Now, as the great art in shoeing is to pr�serve the
foot in the best condition for work at ail times, it stands
to reason that the best means of doing so is to follow

FIG. A. FLAT, THIN HOOF WITH WEAK, LOW HEELS; HORN THICK AT THE TOE,
Fia B, VIEW OF THE INTERNAL CAVITY OF THE HOOF.

nature as near as possible. The horse walks upon the
lower edge of the crust (or wall of the foot), the frog, sole,
and bars�upon that portion of the foot which cornes in
contact with the ground. Now, as the frog, sole, and
bars can take any amount of wear if left in their
natural state, without injurj⁷, while the crust, from its
more brittle nature, will not do so, it is �vident that
it is only the latter which needs protection ; tlierefore
it follows that the mechanical difficulty of fitting the
shoe to the foot simply means the placing of a rim of
iron round the portion likely to be damaged, in a way
which would least annoy the animal. The foot of a
horse is so formed that every part may be said to be
constructed with direct r�f�rence to tAvo important
objects�viz. great flrmness and great elasticity ; the
former to sustain the heavy weight, and the latter to
diminish the pressure of that weight when subjected
to the impulse of rapid and vigorous action. The
principal parts of the foot are known by the following
names :�

The (hoof or) outer portion. The inner portion.

The crust or wall. The laminse.

The bars. The coffin bone.

The frog. The smaller pastern boue.

The cleft of the frog. The navicular bone.

The horny sole. The coronary ligament.

The heels. The sensible frog.

The coronet. The sensible sole.

The quarters. The extensor tendon or front

sinew.
The perforous tendon or back

20 THE FOOT OF THE HOESE :

There are other ligaments, tendons, bloodvessels, and
nerves that enter into tbe construction of the foot, but
the above-named will be sufficient for such g�nerai
information as is required by those for whose instruction
I am writing.

The hoof is that casing which includes and protects
ail the rest of the foot, and is in its nature similar to the
nails of the human body, each growing or proceeding
from the cutis or true sMn. Where the true skin begins
to change to horn, as at the coronary band, the hoof is
extremely soft, thin, and white, becoming harder and
thicker as it grows downwards. We therefore fmd the
hoof, hard and horny as it is externally, constantly
undergoing reformation, the new hoof progressing from
the hair downwards in a similar manner to the human
nail. In fact the crust or wall of the forefoot corre-
sponds in a remarkable degree with the finger-nail, not
only in its constant reproduction, but in the graduai
thiekening of the horn from its root to its extremity. It
is hardest and thickest in the middle, in cons�quence of
which any force is better exercised from that part than
from the sides, where it is softer and thinner. Again,
if the finger nail is attentively examined, it will be found
very thin and tender where it leaves the skin, and,
though it becomes gradually thicker as it advances to
the top of the finger, the sensitive or quick part
continues as long as it adh�res to the flesh below.
When the adh�sion ceases, the horn at its extremity
becomes so callous that we can pare it with scissors
almost without knowing we are doing so, far less feeling

pain. It is precisely the same with the crust or wall of
the foot, for where it joins the skin, that is at the point
where the hair termin�tes, it is very thin, and this thin
portion is called the " coronary ring " ; the " coronary
ligament " being a thick folding of the skin immediately
covered by this thin part of the crust. The term " liga-
ment" h�re, I should remark, is scarcely properly
applied, as it is a m�re covering to a mass of blood-
vessels that supply the foot, having neither the sub-
stance nor the use of that organ which by anatomists is
termed a ligament. The coronet is a circular Une
which marks the union of the pastern with the hoof.

The crust, though horny, is not solid, but fibrous in
its texture ; the design of it being twofold�first, to
protect the sensitive foot from blows, and, second, by its
elasticity, to prevent injury from concussion when the
limb descends to the ground. If the crust was solid it
would bind the foot like a tight bandage, and consequently
would allow of no expansion when the weight of the body
pressed the coffin-joint downwards ; being fibrous, how-
ever, it yields to the extension of the foot at every step.
In the forefoot, the hoof being thickest at the toe, admits
of an elasticity, the point of the toe being as it were the
fulcrum of the spring when the horse is most violently
exerted, going at full speed or drawing a heavy weight.
This elasticity, commencing at the frog, is continued
from the quarters to the toe, the strongest and hardest
part. The fibres h�re are consequently more numerous,
and as their position is also nearly perpendicular, they are
best adapted for bearing the shock or strain of a horse

THE FOOT OF THE HORSE :

when it is in motion. This uprightness in the fibres
takes, however, a more slanting form as they get towards
the heels, which, being assisted by the frog and bars,
do not necessarily require to be of equal strength as at
the toe, while the thinness of horn at that part permits of
a slight expansion there when the weight of the horse
pushes the fiexor tendon down upon its natural cushion
�the frog. "What is termed the bars of the foot are form-
ed by an involution of the crust on either side of the foot
before it refiches the heels, at the parts which are called
the quarters. They enclose the extremities of the cartil-
ages, and act in a similar manner in the contraction and
expansion of the foot ; for when the ground is struck
the elasticity of the bars helps to push open the heels,
which, as they rise in the air, contract immediately
again when the quarters are relieved from the pressure
upwards and outwards to which they had been sub-
jected.

The frog, which is properly but a continuation of
the coronary band, returns from the heels inwards and
forwards like a dart, or the shape of the letter V. It is
enabled to yield to the expansion of the foot by having
a cleft or opening in the middle, which thus expands and
contracts as it presses upon or rec�des from the ground.
Though the frog is thicker than the parts from which it
proceeds it is less compact in its texture, although the
fibres of which it is composed are finer than the other
portions, the diff�rence being in their substance as wool
is to horse hair.

If the crust is closely examined by aid of a micro-

scope, its structure will be found to consist of a number
of bristle-like fibres standing on end, but bearing dia-
gonally towards the ground. From tlie particular
longitudinal construction of the fibres, it follows, as
already explained, that they will bear a great amount of
weight so long as they are kept in their natural state.
The crust so viewed resembles a number of small tubes
bound together by a hardened glue-like substance.
Whoever has seen a mitrailleur or volley gun, with its
numerous barrels ail soldered together, can form a very
good idea of the peculiar structure of the crust, especially
if they were likewise to imagine the tubes to be filled
with a thick fluid, the use of which is to nourish and
pr�serve them. If we pass our hand slowly down the
horse's leg from the knee, we will find that the skin is
connected to the hoof by a band about three-quarters of
an inch in width, which being thicker than the skin and
more pliant than the horn is the Connecting link between
the two. This, as I h�ve already mentioned, is termed
the coronary band, and can be easily distinguished after
a horse has been out in the rain, or standing in water for
any time. Of a bluish colour, and closely resembling in
appearance a thin band of vulcanised india-rubber, it is
not only the bond of union between the skin and the
hoof, but from it cornes the s�cr�tion of horn that sup-
plies the crust, as well as the fluid which covers the
crust like a varnish, to enable it to retain the natural
moisture necessary to its well-being. A still closer in-
spection of the fibres will show they possess a peculiar
retentive quality, being in structure or shape much like

THE FOOT OF THE HOESE :

ears of barley. This conformation has its advantages
and disadvantages, th�se being, that while it offers a
r�sistance against foreign matter descending through the
fibres, it assists the passage of anything upwards.
Therefore it is that the nail, which fastens on the shoe
to the foot, can be driven in with less force, and holds
firmer when in, than if the substance was of a diff�rent
nature ; an advantage undoubtedly. On the other hand,
however, as this peculiarity facilit�tes the passage of
grains of sand, which once in the horn cannot get back
again, and as they are the cause of sandcracks, the dis-
advantage will be equally apparent.

In order that the hoof may be strongest where the
greatest strain cornes, the toes of the fore feet and the
quarters of the hind feet are the thickest and hardest
parts of their respective walls. In the former we find
the crust, thickest at the toe, becomes gradually thinner
at the quarters, and weakest at the heels ; while in the
latter the reverse is the case, the crust there being
thicker at the heels than at the toes. Curiously enough
the human nails are similar in their construction, the
finger nails being thickest in the centre, while the sub-
stance in the toe nails is thickest at the sides. Another
noteworthy fact is, that the horn of horses' hoofs is
generally thinner on the inside than on the outside
portions, a peculiarity which I shall h�ve to refer to
further on, when pointing out the injury which rasping
inflicts. If the fibres composing the horn are closely
observed, it will be discovered that at the toe in each
hoof they are nearest to the perpendicular, a quality

which gives them greater strength to resist the shock
which the foot meets each time it is placed upon the
ground, whether the horse is galloping at full speed, or
drawing a heavy weight at a slow pace. Internally the
horn is a laminated substance, but outwardly, as it con-
tinues towards the quarters, it turns more and more
aslant, by which, especially in the fore feet where it is
thinnest, it obtains a still greater power of yielding to
the shock, and power of expansion, when the weight of
the horse descending upon the frog causes that to press
upwards and outwards at each step the animal takes.

At the extremity of each heel the crust is found to turn
inwards and forwards towards the point of the frog, and
in this new form and duplicate position it is termed
" the bars." The usual name for th�se among the old
school of farriers is " the binders," from an erroneous idea
that they bind or hold the heels together, thus preventing
expansion. To obviate this, ignorant individuals eut the
bars away, in order, as they fondly imagine, to open the
heels. Of course this causes the heels to close, and so
insures the very contraction that their removal is in-
tended to remedy. Besides, it ought to be plain to every
one that this reduplication of the crust must be of service,
as it secures a double bearing to the shoe at the heels,
and thus prevents any undue pressure upon " the seat of
corn." Again, this laminated substance at the heels, on
its return as bars, although its positions are nearly
horizontal, yet lie edgeways, and consequently are well
adapted to bear pressure on their edge, as well as to
permit of lat�ral expansion, an effect that continues to

THE FOOT OF THE HOESE :

the extremity of the bars. Therefore whatever descrip-
tion of shoe is used, if parts that are essential to the
natural economy of the foot be not preserved, or if por-
tions that are useless be allowed to remain, ail shoeing
must prove a failure ; not so much probably from any
fault in the shape of the shoe, but from the objectionable
manner in winch the foot lias been prepared to receive
it. Nature having provided the protections I h�ve men-
tioned, any artificial covering, further than to that part
which is liable to fracture, is certainly not only un-
necessary but highly injurious, as the mutilation of the
horn in any way only tends to take away friction and
moisture, the two greatest preventatives of contraction.

In figure B, Plate II., I give a drawing of the horn
box which covers the horse's foot, and it will be seen
from tins, that the crust and sole, and frog and bars,
which are respectively smooth, concave, and convex, on
their outsides, are laminated, convex, and concave within.
The crust, with its mushroom-like interior surface, is a
most noticeable structure ; and when we are aware of the
importance of th�se ridges, their peculiar appearance
becomes still more interesting. A r�f�rence to Plate L,
shows a section of the foot, and the reader will at once
easily understand that the laminse to be seen there
covering the coffin bone, corresponds with, and com-
pletely fits into, the ridges in the interior of the crust at
every step the horse makes. Being, as has been stated
already, perfectly elastic, th�se sensitive laminse at each
movement of the horse fill up or rec�de from the in-
se�sitive horny laminas in the interior of the hoof ; so,

opening and closing at each step, they act as elastic
springs, assisting to prevent concussion each" time the
foot cornes to the ground, as well as helping to sustain
the weight of the animal.

As every portion of the foot acts together in unison,
it will be easily understood how necessary it is that the
diff�rent portions should be allowed to remain unmuti-
lated. I h�ve explained how, when the foot leaves the
ground, the laminated springs relax hold of their horny
bed, and r�sume it again as the foot returns to the earth.
And it is h�re that the uncut frog becomes of service, for
although itself insensible to pain or feeling, it has the
power, to a slight degree, of conveying sensation to the
sensitive parts it protects. This is one reason why it is
so important that the frog should touch the ground at
every step, for when it is eut away or lifted out of action
by the shoe, the horse is entirely unconscious of contact
with the ground until the wall of the foet receives the
blow through the shoe. When the frog is as near, if not
nearer to the ground than the iron, the nervous sensation
it conveys causes the muscles of the leg and the lamin�
of the foot to be prepared for each concussion as it cornes.
On the other hand, when the frog is not permitted to act
as nature intends it to do, the animal must either keep
the muscles of the leg and foot in a state of tension much
longer than is necessary, or be liable to slip or stumble,
through their being relaxed at the moment when the foot
reaches the ground ; either way being hurtful to the
horse.

The frog, in reality, is only a continuation of the

THE FOOT OF THE HOESE :

coronet, and from its wedge-like form, and nearly total
insensibility to feeling, proves that it is meant to take a
bearing upon the ground where it is useful to the animal
either in action or in repose. In the former it acts as a
buffer, preventing concussion, while its hold upon the
smoothest surfaces prevents slipping. In the latter case
it becomes a support and a rest, as the horse whose frogs
reach the ground can ease the weight of his body from
any leg on to the other three, by allowing the pressure
to increase or diminish upon the diff�rent cushions on
which he is standing. Again, when a horse walks upon
his frog, it, by his weight, is pressed into the ground,
pushing itself as it were into the inequalities it may
happen to corne in contact with ; and thus the animal
gains a stronger adh�rence to the road he is travelling
over, combined with a greater feeling of security wherever
he goes, than he could otherwise possess.

In structure this portion of the foot may be compared
to horse-hair in the compressed state as used for stuffing
sofas, and if we can imagine this hair to be mixed with
a fatty adhesive substance, we shall form a fair idea
what the tough elastic frog resembles when under
microscopic inspection. Though thicker than the parts
from which it proceeds, the frog is less compact in its
texture, and therefore being more elastic it expands and
contracts whenever it touches or leaves the ground.
The more, therefore, we investigate the form and parti cular
functions of the frog, the more must we feel convinced
that its true use is to prevent the horse from slipping,
the heels from contracting, the legs from the evil effects

from concussion, as well as to serve as an elastic spring
for the horse when in motion, and a point d'appui for
him when he is at rest.

The sole of the foot, unlike the frog, rec�des from the
ground ; proof sufficient, from its semi-vaulted shape,
that it is not meant by nature to sustain much of the
horse's weight. Firmly attached to the skin which
covers the under surface of the foot-bone, it is joined to
the hoof's inside edge by the m�re force of coh�sion.
Its uses, which its construction points to, are principally
to protect the sensitive sole which it covers, and by its
concavity to act in soft ground like a break, when the
laminas lengthening beneath the weight of the animal,
causes the sole to descend, by which means the force of
concussion is decreased. Over its surface there is no
external glazy-gluey-layer to pr�serve its moisture, as in
the crust ; while its fibres, stretched like strings, layer
over layer, are as unlike the woolly oily substance of
the frog as the hom of the crust differs from the bones
which it covers. In one respect the sole resembles the
frog, which is, that the outer layer of fibres in each be-
comes dead and falls off in flakes, the growth down-
wards of the new hom pushing off the old in turn.
There is little difficulty in perceiving how the sole
cannot bear so much pressure upon it as the frog, for it
is only above the sole that the foot-bones are placed ; and
as between them and the horn beneath the sensitive sole
lies, any pressure must bruise and injure the tender
flesh between th�se two hard substances. Its concavity,
very slight at its junction with the crust, gradually

THE �OOT OF THE HOESE :

increases as it advances towards the centre of the foot,
a form of construction which admits of the web of the
shoe resting a little upon the sole, without any fear of
injury. This fact most farriers, however, will not per-
ceive, and jumping to the opposite extr�me, pare away
the important thickness of the sole in order that the
shoe may not touch it ; then when sand, etc., works in
between iron and thin horn, they are astonished to find
the horse so shod go lame, to relieve which they apply
rem�dies equally if not more injurious.

From the foregoing the reader will learn that a
horse may be said to h�ve a foot half cloven, that is to
say, a foot having the power of expansion at the clefts
of the heel, but confmed at the toe. Defended in front
and sides by the crust, and underneath by the frog, sole,
and bars, the horse's foot in its natural state, and shod
upon natural common sens� principles, is nearly invul-
n�rable. Where the foot is weakest, namely at the heels,
the thick, tough, and elastic frog supplies the necessary
support, acting as a cushion for the weight above to rest
upon when the front tendons h�ve beenoverworked. Then,
as the sole is not meant to bear much pressure, the
crust or wall, from its vertical position, strength, and
substance, is not only the great bearing portion, but the
only part which will allow nails being driven into it in
a vertical direction. Possessing the last quality, it is
therefore upon the crust that any protection or armour
for the foot must be fixed, as upon the wall and the frog
the horse's weight may be said exclusively to fall ; and
while the former, from its hard brittle nature needs

sometliing to guard it from fracture or too rapid wear,
the latter, if unmutilated, from its toughness and
elasticity, and capability of rapid reproduction, requires
no artincial defence whatever.

This being the case, one would naturally suppose
that to insure good shoeing ail that was requisite would
be to guard the part of the foot that wanted protection.
Common sens� dict�tes which portion this should be,
and if governed by correct principles, there is attached to
the crust a light iron shoe of the exact shape of the horn,
and the eighth of an inch wider. I am confident it would
be found to answer, providing the shoe was perfectly
level, and the foot had been prepared properly. The
shoe must not be too narrow, for it will break or twist
unless of a certain width, and if too wide it will not only
be too heavy and probably press upon the sole, but will
h�ve no hold upon the convex stones over which it has
to journey. As already mentioned, I believe that the
sole at its junction with the crust may and ought to
carry some portion of the weight, but that portion is
small and should not be exceeded.

Weight is also a most important consid�ration, which
I h�ve previously noticed, for the iron shoe put on any
horse or pony should never exceed certain limits in
length, width, or thickness, lest the artificial covering, by
its superior weight and hardness, break and wear away
the natural protection it is meant to pr�serve, and so the
rernedy prove worse than the disease.

Unfortunately, farriers cannot be persuaded to look
at the subject in this light. Pretending, seemingly, to

THE FOOT OF THE HOESE :

prefer rather " to bear those ills they h�ve, than fly to
others that they know not of," they d�cline to change
the System which suited so well their sires and grand-
sires before them. Eesembling the farmer who weighed
and sold his butter by a stone weighing considerably
over a pound, simply because his father had used the
stone for the same purpose, and made money by doing
so, he refused to change the weight, as it would never
answer, he said, for him to wish to appear wiser than his
father. The farriers offer precisely similar reasons for
continuing their highly objectionable method of shoeing,
as they refuse also to be wiser than their ancestors.
And such is the constitution of things, that some kinds
of businesses are carried on, and occasionally with
success, upon quite erroneous principles. It is not so
many years back since horses in Ireland were harnessed
by their tails, and it took �ges to convince the people
there that it would probably be more convenient for the
animais, and better for the owners, if the former were
allowed to draw with their shoulders.

The reader must bear in mind that the hoof, being a
continuation of the skin towards the extremities, is con-
tinually growing downwards from its roots at the coronet,
and it is this which replaces any damage the horn
suffers from wear or .from accidents, and as nothing
intervenes between the coffin-bone and the horn but the
lamina?, the adh�sion between th�se two parts is a very
close one. I refer h�re to that portion of the foot from
the front to the quarters, to which the points of the
coffin-bone reach ; but as from there to the heels is

principally composed of cartilaginous substance, it will be
readily admitted that this is the part which will most
easily allow of either contraction or expansion. Then
as the horn of the crust, and especially of that of the
fore feet, narrows in width and thins off gradually
towards the heels, until it is lost in the skin of the coro-
nary back band, this portion of the hoof is exceptionally
weak, and but for the protection which even a wasted
frog affords, the heels would be always in danger. The
whole substance of the hoof, especially the sole and frog
is of an open porous nature, which not only draws in air
and moisture eagerly from without, but sends forth from
within a continuons insensible perspiration. This per-
spiration can be easily observed however, if, when the
frog is newly pared, the foot is held in the sunshine,
when it shows like dew upon the fresh eut surface.
Nature having therefore given such guards as the crust,
frog, sole, and bars, to the sensitive interior parts of the
foot, it seems incompr�hensible that men should be found
ready and willing not only to eut away th�se important
parts, but actually to d�clare that what they do, so far
from being an injury, is actually a benefit to the animal.
Blinded by ignorance and pr�judice they cannot or will
not see that when the frog is permitted to remain sound
and whole, the more it cornes in contact with either
gravel stones or even sharp flints, the firmer, tougher,
and more healthy it becomes ; while, on the contrary,
when eut with a sharp instrument, allowing the
moisture which is its life to escape, it dries up, hardens,
cracks, and becomes highly susceptible to every impres-

34 THE FOOT OF THE HOESE : ITS EXTERIOE.

sion, as well as diseased ; in fact anything but a cushion
to the inner sensitive parts of the foot.

A horse in health should h�ve a term of existence
from thirty-five to forty years. Ail authorities now ad-
mit that animais should live five times as long as it
takes them to reach maturity. A dog, which is at its full
growth when between two or three years old, is very
aged at twelve years. Horses do not, unless their
growth is forced, reach their full prime until they are
seven or eight years old, which by the saine law leaves
them to live some thirty years longer. When th�se
facts are kept in mind, together with th�se other facts
that three-fourths of our horses die or are destroyed under
twelve years old, that horses are termed aged at six, old
at ten, very old when double that number of years, and
that few of them but are laid up from work a dozen times
every year from lameness caused by bad shoeing, the
viciousness of a System which entails such misery and
destruction of life cannot surely be too strongly com-
mented upon. Bad shoeing has afFected owners
pecuniarily to a far greater degree than ever "bishoping"
did ; yet, while the one is a crime, severely punishable by
law, the other is regarded as a matter of so little con-
s�quence as almost to be considered an impertinence to
mention ; but it is really the worse offence of the two
to owners, whether it is looked at from a humane or a
monetary point of view.

THE INTERIOR PAETS OF THE FOOT.

THE INTERIOR PARTS OF THE FOOT.

In the human frame the gums are the least* sensitive
parts, and under the finger and toe nails the most sensi-
tive parts of the whole body. It is precisely the same
with the horse, as beneath the horn the parts there are
so susceptible of pain, that if a nail only presses upon
the laminse in the interior, the animal becomes lame
at once. The excessive pain which most of us h�ve
felt, at one time or another of our lives, through having
a splinter of wood run under a finger nail, will enable
any one to form some conception of what a horse suffers
when he is pricked by an incomp�tent or drunken
farrier. Like ourselv�s, the animal suffers little, com-
paratively, when the foreign body is at once extracted,
and water applied plentifully to the wound ; but if
allowed to remain even for a single day, it soon festers,
and, from being only a slight wound, rapidly becomes
a serious sore.

The interior portions of the foot, therefore, are en-
dowed with great sensibility, while, to such a degree of
nicety is it adapted to the cavity in the hoof, that it
completely fills it without suffering in the least degree
from pressure. By this every person should perceive

36 THE INTERIOR PARTS OF THE EOOT.

that whatever tends to decrease the size of the horn box,
must imperil the parts which it covers. The internai
portions are composed of bones, cartilages, ligaments,
muscles, tendons, blood-vessels, and nerves, which, by
an insensible but graduai process of natural development,
are continually undergoing changes. The sensitive frog
slowly but surely becomes the insensitive one, while a
similar transformation is going on in a similar manner
in ail th� other parts of the foot. The process of this,
in the aggregate, is truly a wonderful one, as, for instance,
the horn of the sole which does not touch the ground,
when each portion has done its duty, falls off in fiakes,
while the frog wears off the used parts, when permitted,
by friction with the ground ; conditions which ail tend
to keep the foot sound and healthy.

The bones of the foot are known as the coffin-bone,
the navicular bone, and the lower pastem bone. The
first is so named from being, as it were, buried in the
foot, and is the principal bone in the hoof, which in
shape it somewhat resembles, being of a vaulted form
from the ground, broad in front, and tapering gradually
towards the heels. Strongest and thickest at the upper
part, where a hoUow cavity in it, together with a portion
of the navicular bone, forms a socket for the bottom part
of the lower pastern bone to rest on, the coffin-bone
being kept free from pressure, is of material cons�quence
to the whole limb. The concave and arched under sur-
face of this bone allows the blood to pass unimpeded
through the numerous veins below it, and being of an
open porous nature, it receives a greater number of veins

THE INTERIOR PARTS OF THE FOOT. 37

and arteries than any other bone of its size in the whole
body. The very concavity in the shape of the under
portion of the coffin-bone is an advantage, as it allows
whatever weight descends upon it to fall npon the outer
edge or strongest part, besides helping to obviate any
ill effects from concussion in other parts, through
jumping, etc.

The small bone behind, generally known now as " the
navicular," is likewise thickest at the middle, with sharp
pointed extremities, and is of a harder and more compact
nature than the coffin-bone, upon which, however, it is
partly supported. If the reader refers to Plate I., which
shows a section of a horse's fore foot and fetlock, he will
h�ve no difficulty in discovering how the three foot bones
are situated ; and if he looks closer he must observe
the back sinew (flexor perforans tendon) passing under
the navicular bone like a roller. I wish this to be
particularly noticed, as, when I corne to speak of " navi-
cular disease," its pr�vention or probable cure will be
more readily understood. The back sinew is enclosed
in a sheath, and this being shown open in the plate, the
tendon, or tendons rather, which united under the one
membrane, can be seen to insert themselves into the
back and beneath the lower part of the coffin-bone, the
one entering and the other covering the concave or
arched under surface, until they eventually become the
fleshy sole, which, as I h�ve already remarked, in turn
becomes the horny and outward sole. The extensor
tendon, or front sinew, passes down the fore part of the
leg into the foot, under the annular or circular ligament,

THE INTEEIOE PAETS OF THE FOOT.

and ultimately inserts itself into the front part of the
coffin-bone. It is from the front sinew that the laminse
spring, which surround the coffin-bone on ail sides, and
by fitting in to the horny laminse of the crust, become
by their muscular action of so much importance in ail
movements of the horse. I may also remark, as the
action of the back sinew is to lift the foot upward and
backward, while the front sinew controls the forwarcl
motion of the limb, it follows that flexion or bending of
the leg must always pr�c�de extension ; the first being
necessary to lift the foot from the ground, without which
it of course could not be advanced. Movement being
therefore entirely due to the action of the back sinew in
each leg, the importance of the flexor perforans tendon
will be at once recognised.

It will be seen from Plate I. that the blood-vessels
within the hoof are very numerous, more particularly
two large arteries which run along the outside of the
coffin-bone. Th�se, from their exposed situations, are
very liable to compression, and therefore injury, from
any contraction of the hoof. Accompanying the blood-
vessels are nerves which, dispersing throughout the foot,
secure a tenderness to the sensitive portions of the foot,
that enables the horse to tell, even through the thick
horn, whether the ground he passes over is strong enough
to carry his weight. Hence the carefulness with which
we find horses approach wooden bridges or other structures
which vibrateunder their feet ; and when this isall thought
of, the sin and folly of cutting away any portion of their
organs of touch must be more and more apparent. A

THE INTERIOR PARTS OE THE FOOT. 39

�eference to Plate I. will also inform the reader that the
bottom of the internai foot is formed by the sensitive
frog and sole, the former resembling in shape the horny
frog that covers it, the concavities of the one nicely fit-
ting the convexities of the other, ail being united to the
outer portion by two elastic cartilages, winch in a great
measure are protected by the heels and quarters of the
crust that cover them. To realise some of the advantages
whieh frog-pressure obtains for the horse that is shod on
natural common sens� principles, one lias only to imagine
the foot coming to the ground at each step. Then every
time the horny frog touches the ground and receives the
pressure of the horse's weight, the sensitive frog above is
forced upwards and outwards, causing an expansion of
the heels, as well as counteracting the concussion of the
blow. It will therefore be seen that however much the
foot may be predisposed to contraction froin over-dryness
of the horn, contraction cannot well take place with such
a neutralising agency continually at work to prevent it.
The gradations from the extr�me sensitiveness of the in-
terior parts to the utmost callousness of the exterior
parts, are so slight, that it would be impossible to describe
properly where the one termin�tes and the other begins.
Of tins, however, we may be certain, that the extent of
the latter will d�pend much upon the thickness of the
horn covering by which the foot is encased. If the crust
is thinned by rasping, the sole or frog by paring, then
the sensitiveness of the whole foot must be augmented,
while, on the other hand, if those parts are notunnecessarily
interfered with, the callousness is proportionably secured.

THE INTEKIOR PARTS OF THE FOOT.

I cannot toooften impressuponthereader thenecessity
of keeping th�se facts continually in his mind, as weli
as, that whatever injury by contraction, corns, thrush, or
sand-cracks, the horse's foot may suffer from, the remedy
must be sought for more often internally than externally.
Water being the natural appliance, will cause the horn
of the hoof to grow faster by the moisture reaching the
inner parts, but it is quite an erroneous idea to suppose
that the application of tar or grease would h�ve a
similarly b�n�ficiai effect. What would our opinion be
of a gardener who applied manure to the dead leaves
instead of to the roots of a plant, in order to renew its
growth ? Would we not be justified in concluding that
he knew nothing at ail about his business ? Yet this
is just what many sensible people do to their horses' feet.
They apply tar and other unguents to the hoofs, so as to
cause a more healthy growth of horn, evidently losing
sight of the fact, that, as the insensible sole d�rives its
existence from the sensible sole above it, and the crust
or wall being in like manner the production of the
coronary band, and of the sensitive laminae within,
neither the sole nor the crust could be beneficially
affected by any applications to the" bad horn outside.
Why we should term the elastic cushion of the horse's
foot a frog is one of those eccentricities of our language
difficult�even upon the supposition that it is a cor-
ruption of frush, i.e., the fourche of the French�to
account for. The German �quivalent is g�bel, not frosh,
their bou� fide "jumping frog." If the term is a corrup-
tion of the French frush, we are indebted to the same

THE INTERIOR PARTS OF THE FOOT.

word for thrush, a d�signation for a particular form of
running sore that discharges from the frog.

Having endeavoured to describe the necessity that
exists for obtaining frog pressure, I will now try to
represent the sadly hurtful results which follow its
mutilation.

In preparing the foot for the shoe, the blacksmith
ought only to eut away as much of the crust as has
grown from the last time the horse was shod, for the iron
rim preventing the wear of horn h�re, if it was not
reduced it would soon get so high as to inconvenience if
not lame the animal. But the farrier not only lowers
the crust with his knife, he also carves at the frog, and
scoops out the sole, until the horn thereon from being a
thick, elastic, insensitive substance, has become thin,
inelastic, and so susceptible, that if the animal treads on
a stone he is seriously and often permanently injured.
This method of treatment raises the frog completely from
its sph�re of action, and so long as it remains in this
position the heels are deprived of that pressure which
nature has so wisely provided them with, in order to
keep the crust in a state of expansion and the whole
foot healthy. The cons�quence of the evil habit of paring
away the horn protection beneath can be easily imagined,
for the sole being eut away until it springs or bends
beneath the pressure of the farrier's thumb, it follows
whenever the animal treads upon any thing harder�and
even a blacksmith's thumb is not so hard as a pebble
or pi�ce of granit�the poor cr�ature " falls suddenly
lame," or drops to the ground as if " he had been shot,"

THE INTERIOR PARTS OF THE FOOT.

�phrases, unfbrtunately, too well understood to need
explanation. This is only one of the miseries which
the horse has to contend against from ignorant and
prejudiced workmen. By the bars being eut away, with
the erroneous idea that the heels will h�ve more room to
expand or open, quite the contrary effect invariably
ensues�the heels contract. Then the frog, that large
elastic pad, intended by nature for the horse to rest on
when not in action, and as a spring or fulcrum when in
motion, is ruthlessly sliced away, until the sensitive parts
are exposed ; and when this has ail been achieved, high
heel calks are attached to the shoes of the hind feet, and
leather soles to those in front, to keep the now tender
frog from injury. It appears surprising that many
farriers should fail to see ail this, as well as that the
pressure from the horse's weight upon a padless foot,
combined with the r�sistance supplied by the outer edges
of wide iron shoes, forces the heels together, when the
whole foot begins to contract, and, if persevered in, per-
manent lameness follows as a resuit. But even this is
not half the mischief which ensues from such treatment,
as it is well known now that navicular disease, ringbone,
corns, thrush, and greasy heels, are the corn mon cons�-
quences of such insane treatment. In another chapter
I will give full d�tails as to how th�se mischiefs are
gradually mirtured and developed. and at the same time
will show how opposite treatment has an opposite and
directly healthy and b�n�ficiai effect. At pr�sent I will
simply relate what the ordinary fari�er does in ail cases
with the feet, which his mismanagement�to use the
mildest term�has made tender.

THE INTEEIOR PARTS OF THE FOOT. 43

When the sole lias been pared thin, the horse becomes
naturally afraid to put his foot upon the ground, so the
blacksmith then supplies what he is pleased to terni
" cover." This cover, a vide webbed shoe, " nicely dished
out," is a wonderful looking affair, very suggestive of a
broken frying pan, but known to farriers as "the box-seated
shoe," and regarded by the trade as an infallible remedy
for tender feet. However, as might be expected from the
shape and weight of the article, it only increases the evil.
This is especially to be seen in drop-soles or pumice feet,
the resuit in ninety-nine cases in a hundred of close
paring, when ignorance, blindly ignoring common sens�,
proceeds to pare the horn of the sole still thimier, while
the shoe put on becoming more and more box shaped,
the whole foot eventually slips down out of the hoof, and
the horse is irrevocably ruined. Common sens� clearly
shows, when the sole of the foot becomes convex instead
of concave, tliat the sole must be too weak, as it cannot
bear the pressure from above ; and who but a lunatic,
most people will inquire, would ever attempt to lessen
the thickness in order to gain additional strength ? yet
that is exactly what some of our practical farriers pro-
ceed to do with feet of this description.

I will add but little more, at this part of my treatise, of
the cruelty, I may say sinfulness, of treating horses in so
truly barbarous a manner. AU cruelty generally origin-
ates from some paltry contemptible source, and the
cruelty in many cases, of slioeing horses with shoes far
too heavy for them to carry, is due often to the saving
of a paltry sixpence monthly per horse for shoeing. In

THE INTERIOR PARTS OF THE FOOT.

contracts this is notoriously the case, the farrier over-
loading the horse's feet with iron, so that the shoes may
last longer, he being quite careless as to the injury the
poor animal receives from the inhuman treatment ;
treatment, as I h�ve shown, there is not the least neces-
sity for.

If there be no need, then, for such heavy shoes, and
no benefit to be derived beyond the paltry saving in the
cost of putting them on, surely owners ought no longer to
allow their valuable animais to be thus sacrificed. The
progress of disease in the foot is so insidious, and the
development of lameness so graduai, that, when combined
with the natural courageous fortitude of the generous
animal, the injury is often not discovered until it is too
late for remedy. The noble beast, bearing pain day after
day, without fiinching, for perhaps months, having to
succumb at last, the owner is dumfounded when he learns
that his horse is incurably lame. Everything is blamed,
usually, but the true one, namely the shoeing. It is said
to be rheumatism, a sprain, shoulder lameness, etc. etc.,
and then the faithful animal, through no fault of its own,
is either ordered to be destroyed, or reserved for a worse
fate, namely, the shafts of a " fourwheeler."

In May 1869, Mr. Greaves, a florist in Bayswater,
showed me a horse of bis which had suffered so much
from drop-sole and thrush in the fore feet that he thought
he would h�ve to get rid of it. Happening to hear how
injurious it was to the hoof to rasp, eut, and pare it, he
got his farrier to shoe his horse on a more sensible System,
and with the most gratifying results. By leaving alone

THE INTEEIOR PAETS OE THE FOOT. 45

the frog, sole, and bars, the drop-sole began to disappear
and the thrush to grow out, and in less than three months
Mr. Greaves informed me the horse was as well as ever
it had been.

THE PRESENT METHOD OF PEEPAEING

THE PEESENT METHOD OF PEEPAEING THE HOESE'S FOOT
FOE SHOEING.

Faeeiers are divided into two classes of workmen�viz.
firemen and doormen ; the duty of the former being to
fit the shoes to. the horse's feet, and that of the latter not
only to pr�pare the foot for receiving the shoe, but also
to nail it on after it lias been fitted. From this it will
be seen that usually it takes two men to shoe a horse,
although one fireman is supposed to fit out enough shoes
to keep two doormen at work. I may remark h�re, how-
ever, that though it is supposed "they manage most
things better in France," yet, as it takes three men there
to make and put on a shoe, the saying quoted above
may be considered not to apply to farriery, which must
be one of the exceptions that, it is said, go to prove ail
rules. Like us, the French h�ve their fireman and door-
man, but they h�ve in addition another man, whose duty
is, by aid of strap and strength to hold up the horse's
foot while the doorman op�r�tes upon it, nailing on the
shoe in a similar style that a carpenter would, had he
to fasten one on to a door. This method, to Englishmen,
lias a clumsy look, besides involving the services of an
extra man, who even then must stand greatly in the

THE HOKSE'S FOOT FOR SHOEING. 47

other's way. As the buttress is still used abroad, and
every evil there practised that we are accustomed to
h�re, it is not d�sirable to say any more about French
horse-shoeing.

Before going further into d�tails, I trust that it may
not be considered out of place for me to refer to the
pri�es charged in London and elsewhere for putting on
shoes. In towns, as a rule, farriers are well paid for
their work ; but in country villages the pri�es given are
often perfectly ridiculous. For instance, in Cheshire and
Gloucestershire, two shillings and half-a-crown are com-
mon charges for shoeing a horse ail round ; and when
the shoeing is contracted for by the year, as is done in
many cases, the charges are still less. Now low pri�es
mean heavy shoes and bad work, which bring forth
lameness as their fruit ; so, eventually, the farrier gains,
as th�se worthies Avili tell you plainly that the shoeing
never pays them, but the doctoring does. A farrier near
Gloucester told me not long since, when I questioned
him on this subject, that " the doctoring paid always a
heap better than the shoeing." Whether it would not
be more to the owners' (not to say the horses') benefit to
pay more for shoeing and less for physic, is an interro-
gation I need scarcely put. In London, however, the
pri�e is five shillings, which, in my opinion, is nearly as
much in excess of what it ought to be as two shillings
is under the fair price for such work.

Let us see what it costs in London to put on four
shoes, I mean what it costs the farrier. Two men make
60 horse-shoes for a day's work, and in the same time

48 THE PRESENT METHOD OF PREPARING

are supposed to put on 32 slioes ; so, if we consider that
two men in three days make the shoes for, and put them
on to, 16 horses, that will be an average approximation.
As the daily wages of th�se men would be 9s., the
labour employed in shoeing 16 horses would be �1 : 7s.,
and if to this we add 4|d. per shoe for the price of iron,
nails, etc.��1 : 4s. in ail�the matter assumes this form :�

Cost of shoeing 16 horses at 5s. each �4' 0 0
Prime cost to the farrier 2 11 0

rather too much, in my opinion, either for owners of
horses to pay or farriers to charge. A fair price for ail
parties would be 4s. or 4s. 6d. per horse, in large towns,
for shoeing, which would leave a profit of from 20 to 25
per cent on the outlay,�enough to satisfy any respect-
able tradesman. In the country, where labour and every-
thing else is proportionally cheaper, from 3s. to 3s. 6d.
per set would be ample payment ; but no horse ought
to be shod for less.

When a horse is taken to the forge to be shod, the
first act the farrier does is to take up the near fore foot
between his legs, and then, with the assistance of the
shoeing-hammer and buffer, to knock off the clenches
from the nails that hold on the old shoe. This is effected
by a smart blow of the hammer on the back of the chisel-
like point of the buffer, which, thus cutting off each
clench in succession, leaves the shoe at last only fastened
to the foot by a few stubs. After this the workman, by
nieans of his pincers, wrenches off the shoe and nails by

THE HORSE'S FOOT �OE SHOEING. 49

a couple of strong twists, a proceeding, however, seldom
performed without inflicting some injury to the crust,
more or less serious in results. In the next op�ration
the rasp is brought into play, being applied lightly over

the sole and round the edge of the crust, in order to re-
move the ragged pi�ces of horn or injured parts of the
wall,�the usual upshot of pulling off the shoe in such
a manner.

Under the erroneous impression that if the sole was
allowed to remain unpared it would become so hard as
to press injuriously upon the sensitive parts that it
covers, the farrier removes it with his drawing-knife
until the horn is so thin that it bends�or, in technical
language, springs�beneath the pressure of his thumb.
The bars are next eut away, and as th�se were the stay
of the back part of the foot, the cons�quence is that the
heels narrow and the foot begins to contract. The frog
now cornes to be performed upon, when, under the vigor-
ous application of the knife, this mainstay of the foot
soon becomes but a wretched caricature of its former self.

50 THE PEESENT METHOD OF PEEPAEING

Eesembling, when in a healthy state, Fig. 1, by cutting it
is speedily dwarfed down to the resemblance of Fig. 2 ;
when the whole assumes the appearance of what certain
grooms and farriers are pleased to term "a cleanfoot."

By the time the doorman has taken the shoe off, the
fireman has selected one about the required size from
the stock of ready-made shoes hanging on the wall round
him, and, by looking at the old shoe, procesds to couvert
the other into as close a resemblance of the one taken
off as possible. Before iron can be altered in shape it
has to be heated, and therefore the new shoe is placed
in the flre until it has attained a proper degree of heat,
when it is taken out with the tongs and placed upon
the anvil. Usually the first thing done now is to raise
a clip at the toe, to prevent the shoe slipping backwards
when it is attached to the foot. Half-a-dozen blows
with the turning-hammer are sufficient to rise and finish
the clip ; and when the shoe is altered to the size re-
quired, by being made wider or narrower on the horn of
the anvil, or shorter or longer by cutting off or drawing
out the heels, and being made perfectly level, it is in
this hot state taken on the point of a pritchel to be
fitted.



				--� -- �

HOESE-SHOEING AS IT IS

			AND

	AS IT SHOULD BE



		>



X CONTENTS.

		during the day enjoying better Health than Officers' Chargers that h�ve their Stalls carpeted with Straw � What Lord Pembroke stated on this subject a century since � Advantages of good Ventilation.......Pages 77-82

	CHAPTEE VIL OE DISEASES THAT MAY BE ATTRIBUTED TO SHOEING. Contraction the principal cause of Corns : the Remedy, Frog Pressure �Cure of the Horse " Captain "�Thrush and Greasy Heels ascrib- able to the same cause that produees Corns�Cure to be sought for by similar Means�The fatal Cons�quences of Rasping illustrated in a Malformed Hoof, shown at the International Exhibition of 1871 �Perfect and linperfect Hoof described�Remarkable sp�cimen of a Section of a Malformed Hoof�Progressive Growth of the Horn� Natural action of the diff�rent parts of a Horse's Foot described� More about the evil Cons�quences which Contraction prom�tes� Mutilation of the Frog the true cause of Navicular Disease�Mis- chievous Cons�quences of Contraction upon the Bones of the Foot �The necessity of detecting the first Symptoms of Contraction of the H�rn, and an easy Method for Grooms to discover when the Shape of a Horse's Foot begins to alter�Brushing, Overreaching, and Speedy-cut ; their Cause and Cure�Dangerous as well as useless Contrivanee, namely, thickening one Side of the Shoe, to obviate Cutting or Brushing, etc.�Shoeing perfectly level the only Remedy�Laminites, or Foimder, what chiefly due to, etc. Pages 83-100

	CHAPTEE VIII. SOME SUGGESTIONS HOW A SCIENTIFIG KNOWLEDGE OF THE HORSE'S FOOT COULD BEST BE ACQUIRED BY FARRIERS. The dislike to a change of System which most Farriers feel, they pre- ferring to let things remain as they are and h�ve been�What con- stitutes a good Shoeing-smith�What is considered by the Trade generally to do so�The Farrier Foreman of the Veterinary Coll�ge, Glasgow, feat in Shoe-making, etc.�The too pr�valent Ignorance of the Physiological parts of a Horse's Foot among Farriers�The



		Xli CONTENTS.

	CHAPTER X. THE CHAUSS�E HORSE SHOE. The pr�vention of Slipping one of the chief things striven for in nearly ail Horse Shoes�This insurcd in the Chauss�e Horse Shoe by the insertion of an Elastic Substance in the Groove or Fuller of the Shoe�The m�re act of putting the Shoe on tlie ground not the chief cause of Wear, but the Slipping � Advantages of the Chauss�e Horse Shoe in lessening Concussion, the prolifie cause of Eingbones, Spavins, and Splints�Being a Machine-made Shoe it would be cheaper than a Hand-made one, while the gutta- percl'.a fixed in the groove would add much to its Wear and little to its "Weight.......Pages 143-148 CHAPTER XI. BENEITCIAL EFFECT OF KINDNESS UPON HORSES. The Eesult that kind Treatment has upon the Horse�His Intelligence, and the Affection he displays towards those who use him kindly� What 111-usage and Neglect causes him to become, namely, Slow of Pace, Stupid, and Spiteful�Description of a good Groom�The ��fr�quent barbarous Treatment of young Horses on being first Shod�The Tyranny and Cruelty often practised by Carmen and Coachmen�How diff�rent Asiatics and Arabs use their Horses� The Simplicity and Timidity which are characteristics of ail young Horses�How to replace Simplicity by Intelligence, and Timidity by Trustfulness in the Animais�Conclusion Pages 149-157

Index .			159



	12
	12	INTKODUCTION.
		INTKODUCTION.

to ail other nations of earlier �ges. Xenophon, who wrote the most compl�te work on horsemanship of his day, makes no mention of horse-shoes, while, on the other hand, he is particularly explicit as to the means to be taken to harden and toughen horses' boofs. Specially for this purpose is a particular kind of stone pavement recommended, the advantages of which he has thus described : " It will cool, harden, and improve a horse's feet merely by his standing upon it, while the same benefit will resuit to bis hoofs as if he were made to travel on stony roads every day." Another writer, Vegetius, holds forth in a similar strain, informing us "That the floor of the stable should not be made of soft wood, but of solid hard'oak, which will make the horses' hoofs as hard as rocks." The testimonv of Virgil is to the like effect, when he writes " Cavatque tellurem et solide graviter sonat ungula cornu," or, as we may freely translate it, "The horse by the hardness of his horn hoofs, causes the ground to re-echo when he paws it in his strength." Corning down to later tim�s, the earliest record we h�ve of iron shoes being used for horses is in the de- scription of a shoe said to h�ve belonged to the horse of Childeric, who lived A.D. 481. Mr. Beranger, in his in- teresting book about horses, mentions that an account of this shoe is preserved in " Montfaueon's Antiquities of France;" and from the drawing which accompanies the description it perfectly resembles the shoes used at pr�sent (1768) in that country. The same writer in- forms us "That the Kalmuck horses are never shod,



		13
	INTRODUCTION.	13
	INTRODUCTION.

nor does it appear " says he " that shoes are necessary ; the climate being very dry and the soil hard, the hoof is likewise so solid and indurated that nothing can hurt it." Farther on he writes, "the antients did not shoe their horses ; that is to say they did not nail upon their hoofs any pi�ces of iron, or of other m�tal in the form and shape of the modem horse-shoes, but when they in- tended to d�fend them from anything that might annoy them in travelling, or the hardness of the ground, they fastened upon their feet, by means of straps and liga- tures, a sort of sandal stocking, or what we call boots. Th�se were made of sedges twisted together like a mat, or else of leather, and were sometimes strengthened with plates of iron, and adorned by rich and ostentatious people with silver and gold, as in the instances of Nero and Poppsea. In the collection of the late Baron Socks' postes of antique stones, there is one which represents a soldier binding or tying on this sort of shoe." Shoeing of horses has therefore been apparently only a necessity for the last few centuries, from which it may be concluded that the horse has been trained to h�ve feet so tender and fragile as to make the use of iron as a protection to the horn compulsory. And with such facts before us, we might easily conclude that iron horse- shoes, only used at first to protect the feet of horses where the horn was unnaturally weak, had from this partial introduction gradually extended to ail. But even now, in the Orkneys, in the mountains of Wales, the wilds of Exmoor and Dartmoor, many parts of the continent of Europe, and in a consid�rable por-



	PEEFACE.

Passikg down Ludgate Hill one day, my atten- tion was directed to the pitiful condition of a horse in the shafts of a large waggon. The poor animal was not drawing the load, but was being driven down the descent by the crushing weight behind, and, utterly unable, from the manner in which it was shod, to withstand tins pressure, it had gathered its hind legs well under, and its fore legs well in advance of its body, in a helpless struggle to avert the fall, which it too evidently knew was at hand. Never did I witness such a picture of powerless terror as that horse presented, as with eyes starting, body shalcmg, and limbs stiffened, it was carried downwards against its will, until the fore and hind feet slipping in the same direction, it came down upon its left side with a crash. The thought of what agony that poor beast must h�ve suffered even before it fell has haunted me ever since, and knowing if the horse had but been able to use the supple elastic cushion nature

		i



		PREFACE.
	VI


has provided its feet with to prevent their slip- ping�namely the frog�it could h�ve easily con- trolled the pressure from beliind, I resolved if possible to direct public attention to the pr�sent cruel and unwarrantable System of shoeing horses, believing it is only necessary for owners of horses, etc., to understand something of the anatomy and structure of the horse's foot to cause a more humane and sensible method to be adopted. The aim of this book, therefore, is to show that horse-shoeing is no mystery, and that masters, and owners of horses, and grooms, may effectually avert injury to the horse and suffering to the animal, by knowledge of a few simple rules. WILLIAM DOUGLAS. 5 Pkarson Street, Battersea, londo.n, s.w.



		CONTENTS.

	INTBODUCTOEY. Injurious Effects of bad Shoeing�Good Qualities of the Horse�The danger and uselessness of Bearing-reins�Similarity between their use and the Farrier's customary Shoeing tactics � Disadvantages of heavy Horse Shoes� The benefit which light Shoes confer� " An ounce at the Heel tells more than a pound on the Back "� Knowledge of Shoeing generally possessed by Grooms and Farriers �Mischievous System of giving discount to Servants�Power for good and evil which inust remain in the hands of Grooms and Coachmen�How Owners of Horses are treated if they attempt to interf�re in the Stable management�Lord Pembroke's opinion on this point�Eemarks of Xenophon, Virgil, and Vegetius on the natural Hardness of Horse's Hoofs�The great antiquity of Horse- Shoes questioned�Eeprehensible practice of Horses standing on litter during the day�Strengtheuing Qualities of Cold Water, the only natural application for Cooling, Cleansing, and promoting the. Growth of Horn�Pernicious Habit of applying Grease or Tar to the Horse's Hoof, and results ..... Pages 1-17

CHAPTEE I. THE FOOT OF THE HORSE�ITS EXTERIOE. The "Horn-box," and how, as a rule, the Farrier treats it�The vari- ous parts of the Foot, their Functions, and what part requires protection or annour�How the Growth of the diff�rent parts go on�Description of the fibrous nature of the Crust�Uses of the Frog, Sole, and Bars, their Shape, Elasticity, etc.�More about the Crust�The Interior of the " Horn-box "�Plain Keasons for not Cutting away any parts of the Frog, Sole, or Bars�The structure of the Frog, and its many uses further explained�Semi-vaulted form of the Insensitive Sole, and what it proteets�Is a Horse's



V1U CONTENTS.

	Foot half-cloven ?�Advantages of its Shape�Winch part of the Hoof requires to be protected ? � Width of Web and Weight of Shoes�Disinclination of Farriers to changes�The porous nature of Horn�Necessity of the pores in it being left open in order not only to permit Air to enter, but to allow Moisture froin the interior of the Foot to pass out�Age to which Horses ought to reach� Bad Shoeing the greatest shortener of a Horse's existence Pages 18-34 CHAPTEE II. THE INTERIOR PARTS OF THE FOOT. Sensitive portions of the Horse's Foot�Besemblance in this respect between th�se and the parts under the human Toe and Finger-nails �The process of change continually going on from the interior to the outward part of the Horse's Foot�Shape and Uses of the diff�rent Bones considered�Action of the back and front Sinews� Production and spring-like uses of the Laminte�Injurious Effect of compression upon the Interior parts of the Foot�How the Frog, when healthy, acting as an Expander, neutralises Contraction, besides acting as a preventer of Concussion�The Evils which resuit from Contraction�Effect of Grease upon the Horn, etc.� D�rivation of the word Frog � How the ordinary Shoeing-smith pr�pares the Foot for Shoeing�More about the Frog ; Heel-calks and Wide-webhed Shoes�-Cure of Thrush and Dropsole � Mr. Greaves' exp�rience......Pages 35-45

		CHAPTER III. THE PRESENT METHOD OF PREPARING THE HORSE'S FOOT FOR SHOEING. English and French System of Shoeing � Charges for Shoeing in Gloucestershire, Cheshire, and London�Farrier's Costs and Profits �How the Shoes are usually removed from the Horse's feet� �Contrast between Healthy and Unhealthy Frogs before and a/ter the knife�Fitting and Mailing on of the Shoe�Importance of the varnish,-like substance that covers the outside of the Crust�In- jurious cons�quences of Rasping .... Pages 46-55



		CONTENTS. IX

	CHAPTEE IV. THE PROPOSED METHOD OF PREPARING THE FOOT FOR THE SHOE. Natural form of a Horse's Foot�Old writers, names of, who h�ve advocated Frog-pressure�The diff�rent functions of the various parts of the Horse's Hoof�Natural progressive movement of a Horse's foot when at a Walk or at a Trot�lllogical reason for the Farrier's thiekening Iron, thinking thereby to decrease the Wear �Effect quite the reverse : the "Wear increased�Absurdity of con- sidering the man who makes the Shoe superior to the one who pr�pares the Foot for Shoeing and nails the Shoe on�How a Farrier should proceed to Shoe a Horse�Figure of a nearly perfect Foot prepared for Shoeing�How Frog-pressure may be attained, illustrated. by two figures�Destructive Effect of applying a red- hot Shoe to the Foot, instanced by the case of Mr. Bevan's Horse " Hue and Cry "�How to obtain a Level-bearing without Burning the Shoe into its place�How the Shoe should be Nailed on ; number of Nails necessary, etc. � Heel-calks, and what they lead to�Examples�Eesponsibility of Owners�Mr. Lawrence's opinion........Pages 56-71

CHAPTEE V. FARRIERS' TOOLS AND THEIR SEPARATE USES. Pages 72-76 CHAPTEE VI. THE PRESERVATION OF THE HOOF. How essential Cleanliness and Coolness are to keep the Hoof in a Sound healthy state�Detrimental Effect of Tar or Grease upon Horn�A Groom's argument for applying grease to the Hoof�Cow-dung injurious as an application to "stop" Horse's feet with, being of a Heating instead of a Cooling nature�Some old ineffective pre- scriptions for Softening the Horn�Water the only Improver� Heating properties of Bedding, its injurious Effect upon the Horn of the Hoof�Cavalry troop Horses that are not bedded down



		CONTENTS. XI

	sp�cifie, Education�Intelligence no drawback to any good Work- man, but the contrary�Why sliould the Farrier who puts the iron Shoe into shape be better paid than his Fellow who has to pr�pare the Foot and nail the Shoe to it ?�Knowledge the best means for getting Farriers to feel a true interest in their Work and the Animais they h�ve to shoe�The cons�quent Importance of knowing what has to be shod�The beauty and usefulness of every part of a Horse's Foot commented upon�Drunkenness the cause of much Ignorance as well as Cruelty among Farriers�The establishment of a Horse Shoe Company that would shoe on humane common-sense principles, and who would only employ Abstainers from alcoholic Drinks, advocated . Pages 101-111

CHAPTEE IX. ABOUT HORSE SHOES, OLD AND NEW. Pr�judice of Farriers against New Shoes�Sir W. Hope on the Panton Shoe�Description of M. La Fosse's "Lunette" Horse Shoe�Mr. Osmer's "seated" Shoe, Mr. Colman's Shoe�Question, does the Horse's Foot expand or contract when in motion, or does it do neither the one nor the other ?�Horse Shoes made from time to time to admit of expansion, namely, Mr. Bracey Clarke's jointed Shoe, and Messrs. Eotche, Harris, and Lanty's Expanding Shoes�Their Failure and Cause�Sir John Eogers' Screw Shoe�Description of Messrs. Woodin, Palmer, and Gray's patent Horse Shoes � Colonel Fitzwygram and Mr. Haycock's proposed Fore Shoes, having them made at the Toes to resemble old Shoes�Non-likeli- hood of them answering�Mr. Fleming's Shoe, and its resemblance to the Shoe Mr. Coleman recommended long ago�Mr. Fleming's Remarks about Coleman's ability�Farrier's Expenses for Iron, Labour, etc. etc., to shoe a Horse ail round, and what it ought to cost the Customer�Difflculty of getting Farriers in the Army� Examples of this, even Tailors turning Shoeing-smiths�Lord Napier of Magdala's remarks, and Extract of a Letter from the Principal Veterinary Surgeon of India, upon the Ineompetency of Army Farriers�Extract from the Veterinarian to the same purpose �Advantages of Machine-made Horse Shoes for the Army, as their introduction into the Service would not only lessen the difficulty, but be a saving to the Country of over �40,000 per annum Pages 112-142



			INTBODUCTION.

		Philip Astley, in his now almost forgotten book on Horsemanship, very justly remarks, " Certainly he that prevents disease does more than he that cures," and whoever lias had the opportunity of observing tlie dis- eases which render horses unserviceable, must feel con- vinced of the applicability of this maxim to the pr�sent subject. It is well known that three-fourths of those ailments are due to some defect or injury to the feet, which could in many instances be traced to bad shoeing ; and it is a matter for censure, as well as regret, that evils in our method of shoeing should flourish at the pr�sent day nearly as much as they did two centuries ago. It certainly seems strange, that while the structure of the human hand lias at ail times been a subject for much and deserved admiration, the foot of the horse from a similar point of view has failed to become an equal subject for wonder. And when we recall the notably noble qualities of the animal, the courage, speed, strength, endurance, and docility of this incomparably best friend of man, our astonishment must materially increase. Combining the courage of the lion with the fleetness of the stag, the strength of the ox with the docility and affection of the dog, he daily and hourly



		A.A. CRUST OR WALL. B.B. INSENSITIVE LAMIN/E. C.C. SENSITIVE LAMIN/E. D. INSENSITIVE SOLE. E. SENSITIVE SOLE. F.F. INSENSITIVE FROG. G. SENSITIVE FROG.
				H. CORONARY BAND. I. LARGE PASTERN BONF K. SMALL PASTERN BONE L. COFFIN BONE. M. NAVICULAR BONE. N.N. FLEXOR PERFORANS TENDON. O. SEAT OF NAVICULAR DISEASE.



			3
	INTEODUCTION.		3
	INTEODUCTION.

strength, is peculiarly well adapted for the purpose. That lightness is an essential of paramount importance at the end of a long lever like a horse's leg, is a fact most people, I should imagine, will readily admit, and yet, despite this fact, we allow the light but strong protection to be eut away and replaced by a wide pi�ce of iron, often weighing five pounds, and in some instances as much as seven. But the heaviness of the m�tal attached to do duty for much of what has in most instances been ignorantly removed, is not the only evil. " The horny substance on the feet of animais," as Sir Thomas More termed the hoof, is, when healthy, largely endowed with the property of elasticity, and this being the case we can easily imagine how much the natural play of the foot is impeded when a wide iron shoe is attached to it. If this much is granted, we h�ve only to keep in mind that the horn is not only an elastic but an expanding substance, in so much as there is going on a continuai growth of horn, while the m�tal shoe, in its cold hardened state when attached to the foot, remains in form unchanged, to be aware that one or the other must give, when our common sens� tells us it will be the horn. That shoeing, from the nature of our roads, is a neces- sity, I will at once conc�de, but at the same tinie I feel bound to state that the evil should be kept within cer- tain limita, so far as the width, length, and weight of horse shoes are concerned. It is a common but delusive idea that heavy horses require much heavier shoes in pro- portion to their size than what light horses do. Now if we only remember that cart and other large horses h�ve

		;



			INTRODUCTION. 5

		shod with narrow webbed shoes. In this experiment the frogs, soles, and bars, were left in their entirety, none of the horn being removed by the farrier's knife, except that portion of the crust which had grown since the previous shoeing. The old set of shoes when taken off weighed 17 lbs. 14 oz., while the new narrow-webbed ones put on, weighed only 10 lbs. the set ; therefore we may easily assume that the original weight of the one set of shoes was at least double that of the other. And what was the resuit ? Why, that the light shoes wore longer than the heavy ones had done ; the average wear of the former being four weeks and five days each shoe, while the latter wore but three weeks on an average. But it is not the wear of iron so "much as the wear of horse-flesh that I am anxious to direct attention to now. It will be seen, as the shoes that were taken off must h�ve weighed 5 lbs. a-piece when new, those horses were at once benefited by having 10 lbs. less iron each to carry about with them. I will not attempt to calculate what diff�rence 2\| lbs. of m�tal placed at the end of a lever two and a half feet long would be �qui- valent to, but will simply look at it as 10 lbs. extra weight carried by each of th�se animais. A horse when walking lifts his feet ail round about thirty times a minute, and if we allow his day's work to last eight hours, the diff�rence in favour of the lighter shod animais is over 64 tons, as under :� 30 X 10 = 300 lbs. per minute. 300 X 60 = 18,000 � � hour. 18,000 X 8 = 144,000 � � day of 8 hours = above, 64 tons�to be lifted unneeessarily.



			INTRODUCTION. 7

		shoeing, but a limited amount of knowledge. Ignorance is presumably at the root of th�se evils, and until it is incumbent on shoeing-smiths, coachmen, etc., to learn more about the physiological study of a horse's foot, it is to be feared matters will not much improve. Farriers, as a class, are not an exceptionally well-informed one, and it has often seemed to me a surprising thing that this should be so. Possibly they h�ve a compl�te answer to my remark on their lack of knowledge of matters connected with their own particular province, and I should be glad to learn they h�ve. To my idea the man who only pursues his trade or profession from no higher motive than to satisfy his appetite, and sup- ply himself with lodging and clothing, is a man much to be pitied, for I consider nothing ennobles the mind more, or makes existence more delightful, than the feel- ing of being a necessary portion of the community, a portion that if removed it would be difficult to replace. Now, whoever has to do with horses may be in this position if they chose only to be kind and attentive to the animais they h�ve in their charge. I h�ve known men in the army refuse promotion because that would h�ve separated theni from their steeds, their tried companions for years. It was not of themselves they thought, they could h�ve borne the s�paration, but what they feared was, that their old chargers would not fare so well with new masters as they had done with them, the old ones. Doubtless grooms and coach- men may be found who h�ve refused better situations for precisely similar reasons, and if so, such men are



			INTRODUCTION. 9

		must always remain in the hands of servants who h�ve charge of horses, renders it ail the more necessary they should be made to understand that the welfare of their four-footed friends d�pends quite as much upon th�se heing shod on humane common-sense principles as upon good feeding and grooming. And from Englishmen being naturally fond of horses, I feel convinced if coachmen and grooms can be but made to understand �and no reason exists why they should not�how essential it is for a horse's foot to be allowed to remain in as near its natural state as possible, they will become as anxious as their masters in a cause which at pr�sent they regard with distrust, if not dislike. And if it is imperative for grooms to understand something of the farrier's art, it is more binding upon owners to acquire a like information, because it affects their interests more. A gentleman should be able not only to tell whether any complaint made by his groom against the farrier was correct or not, but also to detect anything wrong in the shoeing, which an idle or an un- principled servant might wish to conceal. Unfortunately, ail gentlemen h�ve not the time to look after their stud strictly, and some who h�ve ventured to interf�re with this�their servant's particular province�h�ve not been very successful. With a certain description of grooms and coachmen any attempt by their master of this kind is met with by a regular system of annoyance, or, as this class terms it, blistering, which soon tires the master out. For instance, if a gentleman changes his farrier without this sort of groom's sanction, or ventures



			18 THE FOOT OF THE HOESE :

		CHAPTEE I. THE FOOT OF THE HOESE�ITS EXTEEIOB. Befoee entering upon the subject of shoeing, it would be d�sirable perhaps to describe what has to be shod. This is the hoof ; a part of the foot which, to the super- ficial observer, pr�sents but little scope for study,�simply a horn box to cover the interior parts and protect them from injury ; its structure�whether fibrous or otherwise, is seldom inquired into, even by those whose whole study it ought to be to do so. A farrier picks up a horse's foot preparatory to shoeing, not for the purpose of detecting any malformation, and then striving to put on a shoe that will remedy existing defects, but only to look at the size, and see if he has a set of shoes ready- made which will answer. If he has not the exact article he either cuts down a larger or draws out a smaller shoe to the requisite size, burns it into its position, and nails it on, without ever considering it a subject for reflection whether the horn will not be in- jured by the application of strong heat, or if contraction of the foot will not necessarily follow when an ill-formed or badly adjusted shoe is thus attached to it. Now, as the great art in shoeing is to pr�serve the foot in the best condition for work at ail times, it stands to reason that the best means of doing so is to follow



		E HORN T.OX TTT.
	.


			A

FIG. A. FLAT, THIN HOOF WITH WEAK, LOW HEELS; HORN THICK AT THE TOE, Fia B, VIEW OF THE INTERNAL CAVITY OF THE HOOF.



			ITS EXTEEIOE. 19

		nature as near as possible. The horse walks upon the lower edge of the crust (or wall of the foot), the frog, sole, and bars�upon that portion of the foot which cornes in contact with the ground. Now, as the frog, sole, and bars can take any amount of wear if left in their natural state, without injurj⁷, while the crust, from its more brittle nature, will not do so, it is �vident that it is only the latter which needs protection ; tlierefore it follows that the mechanical difficulty of fitting the shoe to the foot simply means the placing of a rim of iron round the portion likely to be damaged, in a way which would least annoy the animal. The foot of a horse is so formed that every part may be said to be constructed with direct r�f�rence to tAvo important objects�viz. great flrmness and great elasticity ; the former to sustain the heavy weight, and the latter to diminish the pressure of that weight when subjected to the impulse of rapid and vigorous action. The principal parts of the foot are known by the following names :� The (hoof or) outer portion. The inner portion. The crust or wall. The laminse. The bars. The coffin bone. The frog. The smaller pastern boue. The cleft of the frog. The navicular bone. The horny sole. The coronary ligament. The heels. The sensible frog. The coronet. The sensible sole. The quarters. The extensor tendon or front sinew. The perforous tendon or back sinew.



		21
	ITS EXTEEIOR.	21
	ITS EXTEEIOR.

pain. It is precisely the same with the crust or wall of the foot, for where it joins the skin, that is at the point where the hair termin�tes, it is very thin, and this thin portion is called the " coronary ring " ; the " coronary ligament " being a thick folding of the skin immediately covered by this thin part of the crust. The term " liga- ment" h�re, I should remark, is scarcely properly applied, as it is a m�re covering to a mass of blood- vessels that supply the foot, having neither the sub- stance nor the use of that organ which by anatomists is termed a ligament. The coronet is a circular Une which marks the union of the pastern with the hoof. The crust, though horny, is not solid, but fibrous in its texture ; the design of it being twofold�first, to protect the sensitive foot from blows, and, second, by its elasticity, to prevent injury from concussion when the limb descends to the ground. If the crust was solid it would bind the foot like a tight bandage, and consequently would allow of no expansion when the weight of the body pressed the coffin-joint downwards ; being fibrous, how- ever, it yields to the extension of the foot at every step. In the forefoot, the hoof being thickest at the toe, admits of an elasticity, the point of the toe being as it were the fulcrum of the spring when the horse is most violently exerted, going at full speed or drawing a heavy weight. This elasticity, commencing at the frog, is continued from the quarters to the toe, the strongest and hardest part. The fibres h�re are consequently more numerous, and as their position is also nearly perpendicular, they are best adapted for bearing the shock or strain of a horse



			ITS EXTEEIOE. 23

		scope, its structure will be found to consist of a number of bristle-like fibres standing on end, but bearing dia- gonally towards the ground. From tlie particular longitudinal construction of the fibres, it follows, as already explained, that they will bear a great amount of weight so long as they are kept in their natural state. The crust so viewed resembles a number of small tubes bound together by a hardened glue-like substance. Whoever has seen a mitrailleur or volley gun, with its numerous barrels ail soldered together, can form a very good idea of the peculiar structure of the crust, especially if they were likewise to imagine the tubes to be filled with a thick fluid, the use of which is to nourish and pr�serve them. If we pass our hand slowly down the horse's leg from the knee, we will find that the skin is connected to the hoof by a band about three-quarters of an inch in width, which being thicker than the skin and more pliant than the horn is the Connecting link between the two. This, as I h�ve already mentioned, is termed the coronary band, and can be easily distinguished after a horse has been out in the rain, or standing in water for any time. Of a bluish colour, and closely resembling in appearance a thin band of vulcanised india-rubber, it is not only the bond of union between the skin and the hoof, but from it cornes the s�cr�tion of horn that sup- plies the crust, as well as the fluid which covers the crust like a varnish, to enable it to retain the natural moisture necessary to its well-being. A still closer in- spection of the fibres will show they possess a peculiar retentive quality, being in structure or shape much like



			ITS EXTEKIOR. 25

		which gives them greater strength to resist the shock which the foot meets each time it is placed upon the ground, whether the horse is galloping at full speed, or drawing a heavy weight at a slow pace. Internally the horn is a laminated substance, but outwardly, as it con- tinues towards the quarters, it turns more and more aslant, by which, especially in the fore feet where it is thinnest, it obtains a still greater power of yielding to the shock, and power of expansion, when the weight of the horse descending upon the frog causes that to press upwards and outwards at each step the animal takes. At the extremity of each heel the crust is found to turn inwards and forwards towards the point of the frog, and in this new form and duplicate position it is termed " the bars." The usual name for th�se among the old school of farriers is " the binders," from an erroneous idea that they bind or hold the heels together, thus preventing expansion. To obviate this, ignorant individuals eut the bars away, in order, as they fondly imagine, to open the heels. Of course this causes the heels to close, and so insures the very contraction that their removal is in- tended to remedy. Besides, it ought to be plain to every one that this reduplication of the crust must be of service, as it secures a double bearing to the shoe at the heels, and thus prevents any undue pressure upon " the seat of corn." Again, this laminated substance at the heels, on its return as bars, although its positions are nearly horizontal, yet lie edgeways, and consequently are well adapted to bear pressure on their edge, as well as to permit of lat�ral expansion, an effect that continues to



	2 G
	2 G	THE FOOT OF THE HOESE :
		THE FOOT OF THE HOESE :

the extremity of the bars. Therefore whatever descrip- tion of shoe is used, if parts that are essential to the natural economy of the foot be not preserved, or if por- tions that are useless be allowed to remain, ail shoeing must prove a failure ; not so much probably from any fault in the shape of the shoe, but from the objectionable manner in winch the foot lias been prepared to receive it. Nature having provided the protections I h�ve men- tioned, any artificial covering, further than to that part which is liable to fracture, is certainly not only un- necessary but highly injurious, as the mutilation of the horn in any way only tends to take away friction and moisture, the two greatest preventatives of contraction. In figure B, Plate II., I give a drawing of the horn box which covers the horse's foot, and it will be seen from tins, that the crust and sole, and frog and bars, which are respectively smooth, concave, and convex, on their outsides, are laminated, convex, and concave within. The crust, with its mushroom-like interior surface, is a most noticeable structure ; and when we are aware of the importance of th�se ridges, their peculiar appearance becomes still more interesting. A r�f�rence to Plate L, shows a section of the foot, and the reader will at once easily understand that the laminse to be seen there covering the coffin bone, corresponds with, and com- pletely fits into, the ridges in the interior of the crust at every step the horse makes. Being, as has been stated already, perfectly elastic, th�se sensitive laminse at each movement of the horse fill up or rec�de from the in- se�sitive horny laminas in the interior of the hoof ; so,



			ITS EXTEEIOE. 27

		opening and closing at each step, they act as elastic springs, assisting to prevent concussion each" time the foot cornes to the ground, as well as helping to sustain the weight of the animal. As every portion of the foot acts together in unison, it will be easily understood how necessary it is that the diff�rent portions should be allowed to remain unmuti- lated. I h�ve explained how, when the foot leaves the ground, the laminated springs relax hold of their horny bed, and r�sume it again as the foot returns to the earth. And it is h�re that the uncut frog becomes of service, for although itself insensible to pain or feeling, it has the power, to a slight degree, of conveying sensation to the sensitive parts it protects. This is one reason why it is so important that the frog should touch the ground at every step, for when it is eut away or lifted out of action by the shoe, the horse is entirely unconscious of contact with the ground until the wall of the foet receives the blow through the shoe. When the frog is as near, if not nearer to the ground than the iron, the nervous sensation it conveys causes the muscles of the leg and the lamin� of the foot to be prepared for each concussion as it cornes. On the other hand, when the frog is not permitted to act as nature intends it to do, the animal must either keep the muscles of the leg and foot in a state of tension much longer than is necessary, or be liable to slip or stumble, through their being relaxed at the moment when the foot reaches the ground ; either way being hurtful to the horse. The frog, in reality, is only a continuation of the



		29
	ITS EXTEEIOE.


from concussion, as well as to serve as an elastic spring for the horse when in motion, and a point d'appui for him when he is at rest. The sole of the foot, unlike the frog, rec�des from the ground ; proof sufficient, from its semi-vaulted shape, that it is not meant by nature to sustain much of the horse's weight. Firmly attached to the skin which covers the under surface of the foot-bone, it is joined to the hoof's inside edge by the m�re force of coh�sion. Its uses, which its construction points to, are principally to protect the sensitive sole which it covers, and by its concavity to act in soft ground like a break, when the laminas lengthening beneath the weight of the animal, causes the sole to descend, by which means the force of concussion is decreased. Over its surface there is no external glazy-gluey-layer to pr�serve its moisture, as in the crust ; while its fibres, stretched like strings, layer over layer, are as unlike the woolly oily substance of the frog as the hom of the crust differs from the bones which it covers. In one respect the sole resembles the frog, which is, that the outer layer of fibres in each be- comes dead and falls off in flakes, the growth down- wards of the new hom pushing off the old in turn. There is little difficulty in perceiving how the sole cannot bear so much pressure upon it as the frog, for it is only above the sole that the foot-bones are placed ; and as between them and the horn beneath the sensitive sole lies, any pressure must bruise and injure the tender flesh between th�se two hard substances. Its concavity, very slight at its junction with the crust, gradually



		31
	ITS EXTEEIOK.	31
	ITS EXTEEIOK.

sometliing to guard it from fracture or too rapid wear, the latter, if unmutilated, from its toughness and elasticity, and capability of rapid reproduction, requires no artincial defence whatever. This being the case, one would naturally suppose that to insure good shoeing ail that was requisite would be to guard the part of the foot that wanted protection. Common sens� dict�tes which portion this should be, and if governed by correct principles, there is attached to the crust a light iron shoe of the exact shape of the horn, and the eighth of an inch wider. I am confident it would be found to answer, providing the shoe was perfectly level, and the foot had been prepared properly. The shoe must not be too narrow, for it will break or twist unless of a certain width, and if too wide it will not only be too heavy and probably press upon the sole, but will h�ve no hold upon the convex stones over which it has to journey. As already mentioned, I believe that the sole at its junction with the crust may and ought to carry some portion of the weight, but that portion is small and should not be exceeded. Weight is also a most important consid�ration, which I h�ve previously noticed, for the iron shoe put on any horse or pony should never exceed certain limits in length, width, or thickness, lest the artificial covering, by its superior weight and hardness, break and wear away the natural protection it is meant to pr�serve, and so the rernedy prove worse than the disease. Unfortunately, farriers cannot be persuaded to look at the subject in this light. Pretending, seemingly, to



		33
	ITS EXTEKIOE.	33
	ITS EXTEKIOE.

principally composed of cartilaginous substance, it will be readily admitted that this is the part which will most easily allow of either contraction or expansion. Then as the horn of the crust, and especially of that of the fore feet, narrows in width and thins off gradually towards the heels, until it is lost in the skin of the coro- nary back band, this portion of the hoof is exceptionally weak, and but for the protection which even a wasted frog affords, the heels would be always in danger. The whole substance of the hoof, especially the sole and frog is of an open porous nature, which not only draws in air and moisture eagerly from without, but sends forth from within a continuons insensible perspiration. This per- spiration can be easily observed however, if, when the frog is newly pared, the foot is held in the sunshine, when it shows like dew upon the fresh eut surface. Nature having therefore given such guards as the crust, frog, sole, and bars, to the sensitive interior parts of the foot, it seems incompr�hensible that men should be found ready and willing not only to eut away th�se important parts, but actually to d�clare that what they do, so far from being an injury, is actually a benefit to the animal. Blinded by ignorance and pr�judice they cannot or will not see that when the frog is permitted to remain sound and whole, the more it cornes in contact with either gravel stones or even sharp flints, the firmer, tougher, and more healthy it becomes ; while, on the contrary, when eut with a sharp instrument, allowing the moisture which is its life to escape, it dries up, hardens, cracks, and becomes highly susceptible to every impres- D



		35
	THE INTERIOR PAETS OF THE FOOT.


CHAPTEE II. THE INTERIOR PARTS OF THE FOOT. In the human frame the gums are the least* sensitive parts, and under the finger and toe nails the most sensi- tive parts of the whole body. It is precisely the same with the horse, as beneath the horn the parts there are so susceptible of pain, that if a nail only presses upon the laminse in the interior, the animal becomes lame at once. The excessive pain which most of us h�ve felt, at one time or another of our lives, through having a splinter of wood run under a finger nail, will enable any one to form some conception of what a horse suffers when he is pricked by an incomp�tent or drunken farrier. Like ourselv�s, the animal suffers little, com- paratively, when the foreign body is at once extracted, and water applied plentifully to the wound ; but if allowed to remain even for a single day, it soon festers, and, from being only a slight wound, rapidly becomes a serious sore. The interior portions of the foot, therefore, are en- dowed with great sensibility, while, to such a degree of nicety is it adapted to the cavity in the hoof, that it completely fills it without suffering in the least degree from pressure. By this every person should perceive



		36 THE INTERIOR PARTS OF THE EOOT. that whatever tends to decrease the size of the horn box, must imperil the parts which it covers. The internai portions are composed of bones, cartilages, ligaments, muscles, tendons, blood-vessels, and nerves, which, by an insensible but graduai process of natural development, are continually undergoing changes. The sensitive frog slowly but surely becomes the insensitive one, while a similar transformation is going on in a similar manner in ail th� other parts of the foot. The process of this, in the aggregate, is truly a wonderful one, as, for instance, the horn of the sole which does not touch the ground, when each portion has done its duty, falls off in fiakes, while the frog wears off the used parts, when permitted, by friction with the ground ; conditions which ail tend to keep the foot sound and healthy. The bones of the foot are known as the coffin-bone, the navicular bone, and the lower pastem bone. The first is so named from being, as it were, buried in the foot, and is the principal bone in the hoof, which in shape it somewhat resembles, being of a vaulted form from the ground, broad in front, and tapering gradually towards the heels. Strongest and thickest at the upper part, where a hoUow cavity in it, together with a portion of the navicular bone, forms a socket for the bottom part of the lower pastern bone to rest on, the coffin-bone being kept free from pressure, is of material cons�quence to the whole limb. The concave and arched under sur- face of this bone allows the blood to pass unimpeded through the numerous veins below it, and being of an open porous nature, it receives a greater number of veins



		THE INTERIOR PARTS OF THE FOOT. 37 and arteries than any other bone of its size in the whole body. The very concavity in the shape of the under portion of the coffin-bone is an advantage, as it allows whatever weight descends upon it to fall npon the outer edge or strongest part, besides helping to obviate any ill effects from concussion in other parts, through jumping, etc. The small bone behind, generally known now as " the navicular," is likewise thickest at the middle, with sharp pointed extremities, and is of a harder and more compact nature than the coffin-bone, upon which, however, it is partly supported. If the reader refers to Plate I., which shows a section of a horse's fore foot and fetlock, he will h�ve no difficulty in discovering how the three foot bones are situated ; and if he looks closer he must observe the back sinew (flexor perforans tendon) passing under the navicular bone like a roller. I wish this to be particularly noticed, as, when I corne to speak of " navi- cular disease," its pr�vention or probable cure will be more readily understood. The back sinew is enclosed in a sheath, and this being shown open in the plate, the tendon, or tendons rather, which united under the one membrane, can be seen to insert themselves into the back and beneath the lower part of the coffin-bone, the one entering and the other covering the concave or arched under surface, until they eventually become the fleshy sole, which, as I h�ve already remarked, in turn becomes the horny and outward sole. The extensor tendon, or front sinew, passes down the fore part of the leg into the foot, under the annular or circular ligament,



		THE INTERIOR PARTS OE THE FOOT. 39 �eference to Plate I. will also inform the reader that the bottom of the internai foot is formed by the sensitive frog and sole, the former resembling in shape the horny frog that covers it, the concavities of the one nicely fit- ting the convexities of the other, ail being united to the outer portion by two elastic cartilages, winch in a great measure are protected by the heels and quarters of the crust that cover them. To realise some of the advantages whieh frog-pressure obtains for the horse that is shod on natural common sens� principles, one lias only to imagine the foot coming to the ground at each step. Then every time the horny frog touches the ground and receives the pressure of the horse's weight, the sensitive frog above is forced upwards and outwards, causing an expansion of the heels, as well as counteracting the concussion of the blow. It will therefore be seen that however much the foot may be predisposed to contraction froin over-dryness of the horn, contraction cannot well take place with such a neutralising agency continually at work to prevent it. The gradations from the extr�me sensitiveness of the in- terior parts to the utmost callousness of the exterior parts, are so slight, that it would be impossible to describe properly where the one termin�tes and the other begins. Of tins, however, we may be certain, that the extent of the latter will d�pend much upon the thickness of the horn covering by which the foot is encased. If the crust is thinned by rasping, the sole or frog by paring, then the sensitiveness of the whole foot must be augmented, while, on the other hand, if those parts are notunnecessarily interfered with, the callousness is proportionably secured.



		THE INTEEIOR PARTS OF THE FOOT. 43 When the sole lias been pared thin, the horse becomes naturally afraid to put his foot upon the ground, so the blacksmith then supplies what he is pleased to terni " cover." This cover, a vide webbed shoe, " nicely dished out," is a wonderful looking affair, very suggestive of a broken frying pan, but known to farriers as "the box-seated shoe," and regarded by the trade as an infallible remedy for tender feet. However, as might be expected from the shape and weight of the article, it only increases the evil. This is especially to be seen in drop-soles or pumice feet, the resuit in ninety-nine cases in a hundred of close paring, when ignorance, blindly ignoring common sens�, proceeds to pare the horn of the sole still thimier, while the shoe put on becoming more and more box shaped, the whole foot eventually slips down out of the hoof, and the horse is irrevocably ruined. Common sens� clearly shows, when the sole of the foot becomes convex instead of concave, tliat the sole must be too weak, as it cannot bear the pressure from above ; and who but a lunatic, most people will inquire, would ever attempt to lessen the thickness in order to gain additional strength ? yet that is exactly what some of our practical farriers pro- ceed to do with feet of this description. I will add but little more, at this part of my treatise, of the cruelty, I may say sinfulness, of treating horses in so truly barbarous a manner. AU cruelty generally origin- ates from some paltry contemptible source, and the cruelty in many cases, of slioeing horses with shoes far too heavy for them to carry, is due often to the saving of a paltry sixpence monthly per horse for shoeing. In



		THE INTEEIOR PAETS OE THE FOOT. 45 the frog, sole, and bars, the drop-sole began to disappear and the thrush to grow out, and in less than three months Mr. Greaves informed me the horse was as well as ever it had been.



	46
		THE PRESENT METHOD OF PEEPAEING


CHAPTEE III. THE PEESENT METHOD OF PEEPAEING THE HOESE'S FOOT FOE SHOEING. Faeeiers are divided into two classes of workmen�viz. firemen and doormen ; the duty of the former being to fit the shoes to. the horse's feet, and that of the latter not only to pr�pare the foot for receiving the shoe, but also to nail it on after it lias been fitted. From this it will be seen that usually it takes two men to shoe a horse, although one fireman is supposed to fit out enough shoes to keep two doormen at work. I may remark h�re, how- ever, that though it is supposed "they manage most things better in France," yet, as it takes three men there to make and put on a shoe, the saying quoted above may be considered not to apply to farriery, which must be one of the exceptions that, it is said, go to prove ail rules. Like us, the French h�ve their fireman and door- man, but they h�ve in addition another man, whose duty is, by aid of strap and strength to hold up the horse's foot while the doorman op�r�tes upon it, nailing on the shoe in a similar style that a carpenter would, had he to fasten one on to a door. This method, to Englishmen, lias a clumsy look, besides involving the services of an extra man, who even then must stand greatly in the