ON SHOEING.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 1, 9 July 1874, Page 4

ON SHOEING.

There are few writers who have not offered their respective opinions on 'the shoeing of horses, and with various degrees of ability. The writer is. free to Boniess that he is by no means convinced that any individual can give such a; ; regular systematical form as the opera- . -rive. -smith can take for his guide, in- | order to suit all the. differently shaped*seet, which necessarily occur among* a . number or horses. It is difficult to find ;even two whose feet are exactly alike in; shape and make. The art of shoeing- in such great perfection is not required so much in some parts of the country as in others* for instance, amongst the farmers, and in.. small market towns, there is seldom any thing required out of the common practice. But in large rowns, where the streets are paved with stone, all tiie skill of the shoeing smith is necessary. Where the streets are frequently hilly, and also paved with stone, the horses' feet are severely tried 1. In one shop I have known from eight to ten men to'be constantly employed in shoeing*, or making* shoes, all or most of whom were eWer at their business, yet all of these had different methods making and putting on shoes. Of this circumstance the men were well apprised; and, as most of them were accustomed to make shoes every night and morning, although these were promiscuously thrown together, every man knew his own work, if, for instance, any one of them had shod a horse whose feet it was-difficult to fit, and he in the course of eight cr ten days had been obliged to be returned for alteration, these men, after examining the form of the foot and the shoe, could, in general, tell the person who had done the work. As all of these men had different ways of working, they were thereby enabled to shoe some kind of feet far better-thar. others. Thus much I have endeavoured to show the impropriety of attempting to lay before the public a system that can never wholly be acted upon. All that can be said in favor of any particular method of shoeing will certainly fall short of its intended purpose. Men of talents, who have worked at the business for many years, still conclude that there is abundant room left for improvement. .It were unnecessary, perhaps, to offer much on this subject, concerning which the working smith alone is qualified to judge. We shall therefore conclude our strictures by remarking, that as many horses have very tender feet, and some parts of the foot are more tender than other*?, it is the province of the operative artist to give ease to such parts, and to throw the weight more upon those parts which are better calculated to support it. A suggestion may here be made regarding shoeing, which may be of service to the general blacksmith. As it is the obiect of the artist to copy and assist nature in all her operations in the animal economy, a simple hint may not be deemed obtrusive. The horse in raising* the fore foot for extension, the stxess is put upon the flexor muscles, — in partiular the flexor pedis perforans, the tendon of which is inserted into the posterior paat of the os pedis, or bone of, the foot. The longer the toe of the shoe, and straight, the greater leverage is required against the unyielding edge of the toe. By keeping the toe a moderate length, and turning up the toe of the shoe a little-, it allows the foot to be more easy rotated, consequently less stress is thrown upon- the flexor muscle and tendons, and - more particularly upon the tendon at hat part where it passes over tbe navicular hone; it thus lessons the tendency to navicular disease, and if so affecttd, this mode of shoeing will give great relief.