SHOEING HORSES.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7305, 29 October 1885, Page 3

SHOEING HORSES.

Sir, — Will you kindly allow me space to say a few worda in reply to your Hastings correspondent's article on "Shoeing Horses," which appeared in your Tuesday's issue ? I Bhould net have troubled you, as it is a question that has been well discussed by those interested, and your correspondent has brought forward nothing new, but that some of the statements contained in his extract from the N.Z. Farmer are, to say the least, exaggerated and misleading to owners of horses who have not studied the question. He says, " What is ordinarily the mode of fitting the shoe ? Instead ot the hoof being rasped and paired so as to present a perfectly level surface and the shoe hammered till it fits the foot, it is brought red hot or nearly so, and the hoof is bnrned till it fits the shoe ; this probably, and in fact does, take several heatings of the iron till it fits to the satisfaction of the smith." I can safely say that Buch is not the ordinary method of shoeing, and would not be tolerated in any well conduoted shoeing forge in Hawke's Bay. The ordinary mode of fitting the shoe is, after carefully removing the old shoes, to have the feet paired and levelled until the sole yields slightly to the pressure of the thumb ; then the shoe, after being hammered to fit the foot, is taken at a black heat and applied lightly to it, marking those parts which come in oontact with it a light brown r these are. removed with the knife or rasp, and the process is repeated until the shoe hears evenly all round. This is what " Stonehenge " (Mr J. H. Walsh, F.R.0.5.) says on the subject: — "Then having roughly reduced the part and cleared out the sole and frog as much as he thinks necessary he must finish his fitting by gently applying the shoe in a hot (not red) state, without which he cannot tell where to apply the knife. There is often a great outcry made by ignorant men against this plan ; but the fact really is that the light touch which is necessary for the purpose merely scorches the surface of the horn, and has no effect on the parts beneath. If, as is sometimes done, a red hot shoe is made to burn its way to a level bearing, mischief may be done, but this is an abuee of the plan which no smith of the present day will be likely to adopt, and should not ba allowed to frighten a master into giving orders that his shoes shall be cold-fitted." In my opinion most cases of contracted feet can be traced to one or other of the following causes : — Defective formation of foot, navioular disease, shoes left on too long, narrow shoeing, and, above all, the heels not being cut low enough to allow the frog to bear its share of the work in going over soft uround. For the same reason contracted feet are most prevalent in towns and where the horse is always on the .hard road ; the frog never comes in contact with the ground, and thus, thrown out of action, it ceases to aid in nourishing the foot ; atrophy is the consequence, invariably followed by contraction of hoof.— l am, &c, J. Drummond. Taradale, 27th October.