SCIENTIFIC SHOEING.

Otago Witness, 25 January 1900, Page 40

SCIENTIFIC SHOEING.

From all that I have been able to make out during the pa-t season or two. writes the Sportsman's special, it is not only from American jockeys and American or Australian trainers that we can learn a good deal, but also from their shoeing smiths ; nor should I omit to mention their various inventions in the shape of aluminium plates. Of these I believe Mr Covington has some of the very best — a contbinatisji of aluminium and steel. F. W. Day always superintends the plating of his horses himself, and will often have two or three different sets made and tried before he gets them to his mind. I know this was the case before Georgio ran for and won the Prince Edward Handicap last year. The plates he uses will differ in accordance with the turns to be negotiated — whether to the right or to the left, and he knows exactly when to run a hor3e barefoot, and when not. Apart from this, I daresay we have most of us hardly realised the extreme importance of a level bearing for a horse's foot, and what evil results are likely to ensure when it gets too low at heel or tee, or at either side. I was reading a very excellent American work on this subject the o?.ier day, and quote the following passage: " The union of the hoof and the pedal bone is of so vital and essential a character that it is impossible to interfere with the functions of ona without interfering with those of the other. In a perfect hoof of proper natural height all round the pedal bone within, attached by laminae in its proper position, will also be perfectly balanced, as it is nothing more nor less than a duplicate of the hoof in a miniature form. Having a well-balanced foundation the next bone above it will be in its proper place at its natural angle, so that the axes of both bones will come together. This conjunction of bones forms the basis of all the movements of the limbs, and while these bones preserve their jusi relation to each other, that is, that their axes of bearing perfectly coincide, the horse will not place his leg forward or backward of the "vertical line."