THE SHAPE OF HORSES’ FEET.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVI, Issue 958, 16 July 1908, Page 8

THE SHAPE OF HORSES’ FEET.

A level surface is not the only aim a farrier has to keep in mind; it may be produced with such exactness that a level shoe rests on it perfectly, and yet the hoof may be altogether out of proportion. Both sides of the hoof must be left at the same height, and if the sides of a foot when it comes to a farrier be of unequal height, it is evident that one side must be reduced more than the other to obtain a proper form. Again, it is clear that if the foot be level on both sides, a man may rasp away more horn from one part than another, and so cause a disproportion. Carelessness in the use of the rasp frequently leads to unevenness of the bearing surface. From the position in which a foot is held on or between the knees of a farrier, some portions of the hoof are more easily reached with the rasp than others. The left foot suffers by over-reduction of the outside and inside toe, the right foot at the inside heel and outside toe. A lefthanded man is liable to injure the feet in just the opposite positions. It is equally possible to over-lower both heels or only the toe. Even when the surface is quite even from the heel to toe on both sides of the hoof, the foot may remain disproportionate. The heels may be left too high, or the toe too long, and the proper adjustment of these two extremities of a hoof is the most difficult and more frequently neglected part of the preparation of a foot. The great cause of difficulty is the fact that horses’ feet are not of definite form, and that much harm may be done by attempting to carve a foot to some ideal standard. Some feet have naturally high heels, which can only be reduced to a shapely pattern by weakening their structure. Some feet have naturally low heels, and some have long toes, which must not be interfered with. As a rule, when the overgrown wall is reduced to the level of the sole, very little more horn need be removed. The effects of lowering the heels are to lengthen the bearing surface backwards, and to increase the slope of the wall in front.

Too much horn at the heels tends to straighten the foot and lift the frog from contact with the ground. It is always desirable that the frog should touch the ground; but when it is wasted no attempt to let it down by overlowering the heels should be made. When a hoof is excessively sloped in front, and the toe long, it would be injurious to shorten the toe by rasping the under surface of the foot. Such a hoof is properly treated by directly shortening the toe with a rasp applied to its border.

When a hoof presents broken horn on the lower border of the wall it is necessary not to allow a shoe to rest on it. Broken horn cannot support weights, and when it yields may cause injury to the sensitive parts, and always causes shoes to become loose. Broken horn should be removed, unless it can be left in a position offering no bearing to the shoe. When a foot is insufficiently covered with horn, either as the result of excessive wear from work without shoes, or as the effect of previous removal /by a

farrier, great care is necessary to produce the best bearing surface. As a rule, the quarters of a foot are most broken, and the heels may be trusted to take most bearing.

Given briefly, the rules for preparing a foot for shoes are as follows: With a rasp form a level bearing surface for the shoe from heel to toe; keep both sides of the hoof the same height; see that the length of the toe and the height of the heels are proportionate; let the frog and bars alone; remove from the sole only such portions as are loose or may receive undue pressure from a level shoe; fin ally run the rasp lightly round the circumference of the hoof, so that no sharp edge be left, which is useless to support weight and might be broken. From “ The Horse, Its Treatment in Health and Disease,” by Professor Wortley Axe, M.R.C.V.S.