Part 69 (1/2)
_Wide and narrow hoofs._--Finally, there are wide hoofs and narrow hoofs, dependent solely upon race and breeding. The wide hoof is almost circular on the ground surface, the sole but little concave, the frog large, and the quality of the horn coa.r.s.e. The narrow hoof has a strongly ”cupped” sole, a small frog, nearly perpendicular side walls, and fine-grained, tough horn.
_Hind hoofs_ are influenced in shape by different directions of their pasterns much as front feet are. A hind hoof is not round at the toe as a front hoof is, but is more pointed. Its greatest width is two-thirds of the way back from toe to heel, the sole is more concave, the heels relatively wider, and the toe about 10 steeper than in front hoofs.
EXAMINATION PRELIMINARY TO SHOEING.
The object of the examination is to ascertain the direction and position of the limbs, the shape, character, and quality of the hoofs, the form, length, position, and wear of the shoe, the number, distribution, and direction of the nails, the manner in which the hoof leaves the ground, its line of flight, the manner in which it is set to the ground, and all other peculiarities, that at the next and subsequent shoeings proper allowances may be made and observed faults corrected. The animal must, therefore, be observed both at rest and in motion.
At rest, the observer should stand in front and note the slant of the long pasterns. Do they drop perpendicularly, or slant downward and outward (base-wide foot), or downward and inward (base-narrow foot)?
Whatever be the direction to the long pastern, an imaginary line pa.s.sing through its long axis, when prolonged to the ground, should apparently pa.s.s through the middle of the toe. But if such line cuts through the inner toe the foot-axis is not straight, as it should be, but is broken inward at the coronet, an indication that either the outer wall of the hoof is too long (high) or that the inner wall is too short (low). On the contrary, if the center line of the long pastern falls through the outer toe the foot-axis is broken outward at the coronet, an indication that either the inner wall is too long or the outer wall too short.
The observer should now place himself at one side, two or three paces distant, in order to view the limb and hoof in profile. Note the size of the hoof in relation to the height and weight of the animal, and the obliquity of the hoof. Is the foot-axis straight--that is, does the long pastern have the same slant as the toe, or does the toe of the hoof stand steeper than the long pastern (fig. 6c)? In which case the foot-axis is broken forward at the coronet, an indication, usually, that the quarters are either too high or that the toe is too short.
If the long pastern stands steeper than the toe (fig. 6a) the foot-axis is broken backward, in which case the toe is too long or the quarters are too low (short). In figures 6a and 6c the dotted lines pa.s.sing from toe to quarters indicate the amount of horn which must be removed in order to straighten the foot-axis, as shown in figure 6b.
Note also the length of the shoe.
Next, the feet should be raised and the examiner should note the outline of the foot, the conformation of the sole, form and quality of the frog, form of the shoe, wear of the shoe, and the number and distribution of the nails. Does the shoe fully cover the entire lower border of the wall? or is it too narrow, or fitted so full on the inside that it has given rise to interfering? or has the shoe been nailed on crooked? or has it become loose and s.h.i.+fted? is it too short, or so wide at the ends of the branches as not to support the b.u.t.tresses of the hoof? Does the shoe correspond with the form of the hoof? Are the nails distributed so as to interfere as little as possible with the expansion of the quarters? are there too many? are they too large? driven too ”fine” or too high? These are questions which the observer should put to himself.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 6.--a, Side view of foot with the foot-axis broken backward as a result of too long a toe. The amount of horn to be removed from the toe in order to straighten the foot-axis is denoted by a dotted line; b, side view of a properly balanced foot, with a straight foot-axis of desirable slant; c, side view of stumpy foot with foot-axis broken forward, as a result of overgrowth of the quarters. The amount of horn to be removed in order to straighten the foot-axis is shown by a dotted line.]
Note carefully the wear of the old shoe. It is the unimpeachable evidence of the manner in which the hoof has been set to the ground since the shoe was nailed to it, and gives valuable ”pointers” in leveling the hoof. Wear is the effect of friction between the shoe and the ground at the moment of contact. Since the properly leveled hoof is set flat to the ground, the ”grounding wear” of a shoe should be uniform at every point, though the toe will always show wear due to scouring at the moment of ”breaking over.” Everything which tends to lengthen the stride tends also to make the ”grounding wear” more p.r.o.nounced in the heels of the shoe, while all causes which shorten the stride--as stiffening of the limbs through age, overwork, or disease--bring the grounding wear nearer the toe.
An exception should be noted, however, in founder, in which the grounding wear is most p.r.o.nounced at the heels.
If one branch of the shoe is found to be worn much thinner than the other, the thinner branch has either been set too near the middle line of the foot (fitted too close), where it has been bearing greater weight while rubbing against the ground, or, what is much more often the case, the section of wall above the thinner branch has been too long (too high), or the opposite section of wall has been too short (too low).
”One-sided wear, uneven setting down of the feet, and an unnatural course of the wall are often found together.” How much an old shoe can tell us, if we take time and pains to decipher its scars!
The horse should next be observed at a walk and at a trot or pace, from in front, from behind, and from the side, and the ”breaking over,” the carriage of the feet, and the manner of setting them to the ground carefully noted and remembered. A horse does not always move just as his standing position would seem to imply. Often there is so great a difference in the form and slant of two fore hoofs or two hind hoofs that we are in doubt as to their normal shape, when a few steps at a trot will usually solve the problem instantly by showing us the line of flight of the hoofs and referring them to the regular, base-wide, or base-narrow form.
No man is competent either to shoe a horse or to direct the work till he has made the precited observations.
PREPARATION OF THE HOOF FOR THE SHOE.
After raising the clinches of the nails with a rather dull clinch cutter (”buffer”) and drawing the nails one at a time, the old shoe is critically examined and laid aside. Remaining stubs of nails are then drawn or punched out and the hoof freed of dirt and partially detached horn. The farrier has now to ”dress” the overgrown hoof to receive the new shoe; in other words, he has to form a base of support so inclined to the direction of the pasterns that in motion this surface shall be set flat upon the ground. He must not rob the hoof nor leave too much horn; either mistake may lead to injury. If he has made a careful preliminary examination he knows what part of the wall requires removal and what part must be left, for he already knows the direction of the foot axis and the wear of the old shoe and has made up his mind just where and how much horn must be removed to leave the hoof of proper length and the foot axis straight.
A greatly overgrown hoof may be quickly shortened with sharp nippers and the sole freed of semidetached flakes of horn. The concave sole of a thick-walled, strong hoof may be pared out around the point of the frog, but not so much as to remove all evidences of exfoliation. The wall should be leveled with the rasp till its full thickness, the white line, and an eighth of an inch of the margin of the sole are in one horizontal plane, called the ”bearing surface of the hoof.” The bars, if long, may be shortened, but _never pared on the side_. The branches of the sole in the angle between the bars and the wall of the quarters should be left a little lower than the wall, so as not to be pressed upon by the inner web of the shoe. ”Corns,” or bruises of the pododerm, are usually a result of leaving a thick ma.s.s of dry, unyielding horn at this point.
The frog should not be touched further than to remove tags or layers that are so loose as to form no protection. A soft frog will shorten itself spontaneously by the exfoliation of superficial layers of horn, while if the frog is dry, hard, and too prominent it is better to soften it by applying moisture in some form, and to allow it to wear away naturally than to pare it down. It is of advantage to have the frog project below the level of the wall an amount equal to the thickness of a plain shoe, though we rarely see frogs of such size except in draft horses. The sharp lower border of the wall should be rounded with the rasp to prevent its being bent outward and broken away. Finally, the foot is set to the ground and again observed from all sides to make sure, that the lines bounding the hoof correspond with the direction of the long pastern.
THE SHOE.
The shoe is an artificial base of support, by no means ideal, because it interferes to a greater or less degree with the physiology of the foot, but indispensable except for horses at slow work on soft ground. Since a proper surface of support is of the greatest importance in preserving the health of the feet and legs, it is necessary to consider the various forms of shoes best adapted to the different forms of hoofs. Certain properties are common to all shoes and may be considered first. They are form, width, thickness, length, surfaces, borders, ”fullering,” nail holes, and clips.
_Form._--Every shoe should have the form of the hoof for which it is intended, provided the hoof retains its proper shape; but for every hoof that has undergone change of form we must endeavor to give the shoe that form which the hoof originally possessed. Front shoes and hind shoes, rights and lefts, should be distinctly different and easily distinguishable.
_Width._--All shoes should be wider at the toe than at the ends of the branches. The average width should be about double the thickness of the wall at the toe.
_Thickness._--The thickness should be sufficient to make the shoe last about four weeks and should be uniform except in special cases.