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32 X

HOJISE-SHOEING.

AS IT fs dom;

^ISl) .'IS IT OUa IIT TO BE.

A Livrrnii /^ Dj^.iiv.N.sF.r to Tvri:;

;^t<ii&<nt .^ ;;j^^<m()<r$ ^f <^c (^t. g^clin gf .jricnfttuaf ■^i^c'dd^

xrx'.X'jo: i\T.A'.)r.^3P.s Aiairari XT.j.Trs'.)C'.Y.iA7/xe.TH.

IJV I. A. cniiNG, y. s..

^f..wi,r <i/- th Hond Collrffc nf fctpnaarj .S'./r-oort,. of Kdin!,vri.^h S,- l.or'nn

hMhM Ry flrdrr of the Roari

FRr.DERICTON, N. B.:

^SmrfD B\ TAMF.S UOCKi, KIIPOKTRU OVri f.

18 5 4.

al
re

«(

111

P'
of

.ar
D

tV(
ini

«ti

fir

jlig
as
-ad
of,
an

HORSE-SHOEING,
As it is, and as it ought to be.

UY ^l. A. CUMING, V. S.

Tu the President and members of the St. Jnlin AgricuUnral SocicUj,

Gentlemen, — In adiirossiiig you oi» tlic |)artioular point in ti)e
treatment cf your horses placed at tlio hond of this lotter, I may be
.allowed to guard myself against tlie imputation of ohtrusiveness by
referring to the following extract fri-m tho original. application of the
Society by which 1 was induced to.cometo this city and Provii<c«.
in writing to Professor Dick, of Edinburgh, to vecoinmond a com-
petent Veterinary Surgeon for St. John, the Corresponding Secretary
of your Society said :— " It is greatly desired by the members of the
Society that the Surgeon shoul.i have in connection with his estab-
.Ushment or under his charge, a Forge where horses could be shod
in a proper manner. At present wo are very badly off" in this rcs-
jject, there being but few smiths with whom a good horse can be
safely trusted."

This was written in the summer of 'ol, and my own dbservati^'ii
^fier coming here in '52 fully bore out the truth of the statement. It
was not necessary to take off shoes or examine feet, or enter into
,any other miuute kind of inspection to find out the evil. The lof»^'
Donkey like hoofs every where seen, and the number of horses lame
■from corns, contractions, ringbones, spavins, sprained tendons and
interfering were snfiicient evidence that the Society had not in-
structed its Secretary to write as he did without abundant cau«j.

Such being the case there is need for little further proof, that thf
horses here are not generally shod as they .should be; nor, is it re-
quired that I should urge the benefit of a better system. The luhisv.
" no foot no horse" is equally applicable here as wh^re it wjx
first used. In this country where horses are hard driven, and tno
slight generally for their work, it is of the greatest importar.ce thyt

at est
icni

as few defects should exist in the plan of shooing tlicni, and as mariv
-advantages be combined as tha state of the shoeing art win adoKt
of, and it is to further this desirable end that the foil

lowuiir rcniarlv.s

are meant. In writing my ideas therefore on hnr.«<'-shoeing, I t,avu;

/.o w..f. that thoy should be looked upon a« a comnU-te or foru^ai
rcat.e on the subject. So n.any of .hL. u.ro.dy I::^" ' "e^^^if

nqmnn. reader all the .nformation that book^ can give. Aly ob-
ject .s 0. a less pretending but moro practical character u.Lt
- po.nt ont th. errors n,ost co,n.nonlv iajlon into ^ l'^

do.o a.uong ourselves, the efiects of these errors, and thei .' e^^
.e. .rr : ve I'Th r T:'' -^-of „,yone accu.to.ned^

CO. H the preposterous length of th« toes, «o strange indeed did

«. «ho foot could be the same as those I had been «.«! to see else-
where, or . nature had n.t in n freak n,ado then, difibrent he.t

b .yhown .nc that th.s .s not the case, that nature forms the ferf

01 .urses hero the sa.no as every where cise. and that the absurd

an I, uuer. lud.croas lorms ^ve see them fashioned into is onlv the

wo:,: o the sboe.n,. smith. When the foot is unshod and the horse

|u Uoerty, the growth of the hoof is barely sufficient to provide for

the constant wear and tea.- of the solo and toe; and consequently

no i.art .s eUi.er wanting oy superabundant. But when the Horse k

put to work on ha^d roads, and to stand in dry stables, the foot b«-

.o.nes mado^iuate to the wear, and to save it we put an iron sho«

on. rh.s shoo prevents the wear without checking the growth of

thn hool. and ,0 compensate for this, every ti.ne the shoe'^^s oft" the

-ant should be brought as near as possible to the form and size that

nature gave it In the unshod colt the greatest diameter of the

hoof .s across the sole. This is cspeciHly the case in the fore foot,

and I contributes materially to the usefulness of the animal that ,t

.?iiouId contmue so through life.

-njc function of the i^re leg is mainly that of supporting the'
.cght of the body, head and neck, and of transferring that wtight
lorward from pon.t to point .t the time the animal is in motion, fu

• ^»ne a that ol a spoke in « carriage wheel. It is in fact a lever,
HMV^.ch, to g.vc .ncreased speed, the power acts at a disadvantage,
t.e lul«rum or hxed po.nt being at the long end of tl,e lever, whil.
.he yow,r a,:d weight are near each other at the short. This lono-

T:1 ":"T^5':? ^T••^^^'^° '*^^^^- the elbo.v to tho ,roun.:

which

Jence any addition made to the Icn-nh of the

body is raised, au(r

ifct upon tho horse as the pincinjr ti

toe, has the same
le block before the wheel of a

car,.i«^.e l.a, o. i,. U aC. against tl.o „u,.cular power of ,!«.
annnal „s used .„ .,.. raising unci c.n,vin, fcMvard of ilwltr
and It nddoii, of the wcwht nfh;- .• i , . weight,

v.;.n,„se .,r |,„,i,„ ,„o„. ,„„„ Uoi,n/.h„ U„ , ,' „ 7c
l>.si! a,, m,«l,„i,c„ „„_v „„o ,|,al l„„ ,l,o ,-.ve,.,„ .m!" r ,
.sen, rev (lioreab,,,,! al l,„„| ,,,,,, ,,,J , '■ '"" ""-'■"

•ri,. rosislanc. i,, co„o»„t,a„.d ,„ ^/^ , ' I""'"' »'""' '>«l'-

i.%™..ho,,„„,,j„i,;,,„r;; J ; t":;. n:,:''':,''^""";''"'

the toe upon the <rroiM»l v i • ' ' '* "'*-' P"'"' of

... pud, l„von.,go placed against ,],„ ani, ,. Tl^f ., ",' '" '""' "

Every on« huows what is incLint by « hors*. bein.r w

;f- '---•• For u., in,i,.,„,„,, „,,;;„, :;,^:;,^,;';'":'^ -

I'ow this co-iJitiun i^ prod.iced I will .... i • ' "'"'**'

Ti.. hones oCtho ^bot and ^^J^Zu^'"] "" °* ''^ — "
dioularly abovo each o.hc • L'st! I ', '"'■'"'■'' ''"'""- '

portion of the n„i,nu'.= wei!.;.oV' ''' "''*'^'-^''-^- ■•' con.sidorald.
thn hack of ,ho U '. and fo ' :L ' "" '"'' '"''""■^ """ ^^-'^ '^"--

«tr«in the tendons"h= t , 'VT'"" "V'^^^'' '"^ '"^'^■^ ""'

hi-i hc^ru! un hill m ^ '"" " ^"''''' '" ''='•'"'' ^wH, '

/ , ' "'' '""• "*'^'« '-'•^°i"<"i i^i needed to sustain hims,.|f r. ■ ■
standing oil (I lovel Tl.o ..„ . ' '^''''" ""nM.'lt th.-m ,

level. l|,e reason is that the l.ones of ,1,,. .;.nf a„,f

hereliy placed rno

•^ tlirowa uj)oa t!ie tendons and muscl
M loit to hiinselftilwayi feeds with

'•c ohiiqnnly, and more of]

and tl

iii.l Wf i.r},t

iii.-i !i w<;;iried h

hi-s head down hill.: h

orse.

ul wo sdti

lo thfi slope or the foot and pastern the some hy adding to tint
lenfTth of tlio hoof and shoe as \,y placing the horli-s hond°up hill,
and will, ginnter perrnanencv of ellects as wo leave him nu power
to relieve himself. (Iften the two conditions are conjoined, the
toes are iinpcrionsly long and the horse is confined nine-tenths of
his time in a sloping stall. Here ,the muscular exertion of sustain-
ing his wci-ht soon becomes irksome, he sliifls from one foot to
another hut finds it only a temporary relief. The muscles con-
nected with the tendons that pass .down the back part of the leg to
the foot soon begin to relax till the weight falls on the ligamentou«
straps boUind and below the knee. Then the bones of the pasteri*
and foot become still more sloping, and to sustain his body pcrpei^-
KJicularly above his feet, and still more to relax the muscles, the
knee bulges out in front to a line with thr- projecting toe. This at
tirst occurs only now and then, when the horse is wearied and
forgetful, his postures becoming natural and proper when roused
up. My-and-by however it becomes a habit, and 'the causes being
permanent and constant in tlieir action the effectH soon become the
same, and we have for life the horse " sprung in the knees."

Many a valuable horse, tottering on the brink of this condition
lias been saved and brought back to usefulness by havmg his feet
|iut in a proper shape, and a run at grass, or a loose box'to stand
«n allowed him, while others on whom the torture of long toes and
-•doping stalls was persevered with have become pei»ma«ently
useless.

Another evil, resulting from the length at which the toes are com-
<nonly left, is int«rf«ring. The horse, finding the long projection
in front of las foot as so much leverage acting to his disadvantage,
gradually gets into a habit of shifting it, by raising himself frors
one or the otlur of the quarters. This is still more \ho case when,
in addition to the long toe left on the hoof, a small round knob of
steel is set into the point of the shoe, as if in contempt of all that
nature teaches. With these absurd contrivances placed between
hi.s weight and the ground that supports it, it is next to impossible
i;»r a horse to raise himself evenly upward and forward, and hence
the number that one way or another interfere. If in raising his
weight from the ground, the pressure be upon the inside quarter
ufthe foot, then the thick part of the pastern is thrown inward, in
the way of being struck by the upper edge of the hoof of the other
side, if t
the

he caut be the other way, and the outsidu quarter raise
night, the inside edge of the shoe is thrown round and
,T'-ard, and runs t!»o riak of cutting with it the opposite leg. I]

up-

V«M

#lien the horse from having a natnra'ly good gait psc.'i|)cs hofh
thcae eviiri, still he is not free from evils caused by this shape of
.shoe.

The fore foot of tho horse, »9 nature makes it, has no sucii pro-
jection in front and downward as that which the Smiths here give
it, but ratlier the reverse. The sole surface at the toe is conimoniy
broken olT and notched back ui the middle, so that the pressure,
when the foot strikes the ground or the animal is raising his weight
is distributed over the whole front of the foot. In accordance willi
this the coffin bone, which lilh the natural cavity of ihc hoof,, has
the same turned up and notched back form ; i» England, France,
and on the Continent of Europe generally, wherever Veterinary
Schools exist, and scientific attention is given to shooing, this na-
tural form of foot is more or less followed in the shape of the shoe,
and the animal has preserved to him, along with the protection
from wear which the shoo gives, the position of tread for which
nature ha« constructed the other mechanical arrangements of his
organs of motion. Why it is not so here is partialiy perhaps due
fo the buttris for cleaning out the foot when' it is shod, as it is im-
possible with this antiquated instrument to bring the hoof to the
proper shape in all its parts ; but it is more so to want of study on
the partof those who shoe, of the structure of the foot, its uses and
fhe relation existing between it and tae other motive organs, the
bones, tendons, and ligaments of tlie limbs.

Let me describe for an instant tiio way the horse is commonly shod'
here, the foot an inch longer at least (often more) in hoof than it
should be, and brought out to a point instead of being rounded back,.-
on this point is placed in nddition to the uimatural length of the shoe
a round button like knol j: steel with perhaps only a fourth part of
an inch of level bearing to rest upon the ground. When the ground
ie soft it is all wcllyas this projection penetrates till the flat of the shoo
«omes to b-ar the weight, and all the extra labour the horse has is
that of raising himself an inch or two more than Hb needs at everv
step, and' digging up an unnecessaiy quantity of gravel. But the
case differs when the horSo treads on anything impenetrable, as a
piece of stone or smooth hard rock. Then the difficulty of raising
his weight is added to that of balancing himself while doing so upon
the pivot by which the point of his toe is terminated. The horse not
he'mg furnished by nature with muscles of abduction and adduction
'n the fore limbs (that is muscles fordrawing the legs outward or'
inward from or to the body) has but little power of balancing himself
irom falling sideways. The instant he begins to raise his weight upon

fhi

iirirmw l.v^o of Iosh tlinii Iml,' an inch on whidi tl

.•ropiicd hiin, tlip l.;iulc!n(-y is for him to toppl
I'll till' side or (luartcr of tlx

e smith lin<»*

I' ovor, which ho d

(>(\>»

vjroimd iind crives him fiirti

sli.K' cither oiilsido or iiisidc takes th

>er support. This hosvcv

^/lthollt 11 emit or jork to all tiio joints of tlic (
work of an instant and the h

<:.• is not don<

lout.

i"uc, it is tlit

orsf!

(ore wo can almost soc it is done. Hut tlun ll
•Irod, it may bo n thousand times a dav, when ll

recovers himself, and goes on hr

'■•1' ilrv an(

1 ston

•same (jccnrs u hun-
ti(.' i(jad.s are rocky
y, (.-nnting, twisting and jerking the collin pasfcrii
rtnd fetlock joints at every stop, and yet, we daily meet with those who
iravely wonder how the ringbones, .swelled fetlocks, sprain.s, nn.l
:M..iv.ns, are all produced. The wonder rather is, considerin-r the im-
i'loprr and unnaturally shaped feet and shoes, that there "are an/-
sound. '

Another of the 'crroi-.?ih shoeing which I' found current when I
rame here was the want 6f a tip or pr6jection turned up, on the poin,
of the shoe to for an abutment against the too of the hoof. It .scemod
to me that in respect of tiiis the smiths had turned the shoe wrong
side up, g.vmg a tip downwards where nature .iever designed it to be,
and denynig one upwards where it was essentially wanted. As from
the long toes so from this also the fore feet are the greatest suflerers.
I liavc already mentioned the function of the fore limbs to be mainlv
the support of the weight, and its transference forward from point to
point durmg the motion of the animal. In doing this a considerable
degree of concussion is inflicted upon the foot every time it striken
the ground. The direction of this concussion is neilher right down-
ward nor right forward, but between the two, partaking of the hori-
/ontal motion of the body of the animal along the roud, and of the
perpendicular direction of the descent of his wcig'it.

Everyone knows the additional power of rosislihg or sustaining
concussion and weight any (ibrous substance has if struck or pressed
m tliR direction of the fibres bjsidos if acted on in any other. The
hoof of the horse is compjsod of an infinite number of dense fibres,
strongly agglutinated together ; and to enable the foot with the greate^'t
advantage to meet and support the concussion there is when it^strikes
the ground, these fibres are every one of them so placed in the unshod'
loot as to receive the sliock directly on their end

tliis, the front part of the hoof whore the 1
greatest is twice or thrice as thick and str .„ __
its slope indicating exactly the direction of tlTe de
••eight. ,

In addition to"
brce of the concusr>in it'
■ong as the side and lieels,
cent of the horses

[9J

Now all this thickening p.nd strcnRthoning and sloping at the too of
the fore foot is not without an obvious design, which is to enable it to
roceivo without injury tiie shock upon it when the horse is thrown
forcibly forward, as in leaping, galloping, or even hard trotting, os-
pecially if down iiill, and by turning up a tip on the shoe as an abut-
mont for the too to press against when it strikes the ground we make
both shoo and foot to aot together in harmony, we save the shoe from
being knocked off, and at the same time promote the natural action
of the foot. In shooing without this simple expedient, we frustrate
the design which nature evidently had in making the toe so strong,
and throw the concussion this strength was designed to meet upon •
the nail holds of the weaker parts of the foot, sides and heels. These
have not only to support the weight of iho shoe but also to bear the
force of the foot striking the ground ; and the shoe being found from
these two causes more inclined to come off than is wished, resource
is had to an extra amount of nailing, not only at the toes, where from
the thickness and want of spring in the hoof it is harmless but round
the quarters and even to the heels where by its pinching and fettering
effects it is productive of the worst of consequences ; corns, contrac ,
tion and founder being its daily fruits.

No disease is more certainly a consequence of shoeing than corns,
and the number of horses lame from this heroisfal most beyond belief,
I have met with them in feet where they had caused lameness for
years and been shod over all the time without discovery. In such a
case we may blame the shacr for oversight but not for wilful mis-
doing; but what shall wo say when a corn is discovered, and to aome
relieved by the knife, and then the shoe refixed on the very plan by
which the evil was originally produced, yet such things happen not
once or twice, but daily.

Two causes mainly contribute to the production of corns; nailing
of the shoe too far back by its preventing the spring of the foot is one.
The other is unequal pressure of the shoe upon the sole and heels ;
when both are combined corns are next to inevitable.

A reason or at least a pretext for heel nailing I have already
noticed. The extent to which it is carried and the uniformity of its
occurrence show that those who produce it never entertain a doubt of
its propriety, nor a suspicion that the hoof of the horse is an elastic
and ofganiz^d structure contracting and expanding alternately at
every step and consequently in proportion to the extent to which it is
fixed and fettered.

The unequal pressure between the hoof and shoe which leads to^
corns and other hurtful consequences may arise either from the shoe

[10]

being improperly made or the foot insufficiently parerd out. It is rarer
that we meet with a shoe here on which an attempt has been made
to form a seat for the sole, more rare still that the attempt is success-
ful. The seat when tried to be made is commonly only a concaTC
from given to the entire surface of the shoe next the hoof instead of
extending only as far outward as the sole, and leaving a level rest for
the edge of the crust, such shoes should be called scooped rathei
than seated and are worse to make a horse go with, than even those
flat made.

But the cause of coma is often to be found in the way the foot is
prepared. I have already adverted to the buttris as being instru-
mental in the production of long toes. It is equally so in that of
cdrns. Of this no better proof is needed than the disappearance of
the one simultaneous with disuse of the other ; this has happened ge-
nerally in Britain within the last thirty or forty years, and particularly
in the practice of Reginiental shoeing.

Professor Coleman of the Veterinary College of London, writing'
in 1809 says : " There are very few horses that are not attacked with
corns. This is so common a disease that nine hundred horses out of
a thousand have it." Mr. Percival, Veterinary Surgeon to the First
Life Guards, in his work on lameness in horses published last year
says: "That faulty shoeing is the chief and predominant cause of
eoorns cannot anywhere receive more satisfactory demonstration than
in the Army. Corns and quittors and contracted feet were in former
days as rife in the Cavalry as in other places, whereas at the present
day these diseases are all but unknown to Veterinary Surgeons of
Regiments ; and all is owmg to an amended practice of shoeing."

My own experience, if it could add anything to the above is this :
during seven years practice immediately preceeding my coming liere
I did not meet with more than five or six casca of lameness from
corns ; and in a record of more than a thousand cases that I kept
during a part of the time, noting them in the order which I treated
them, there is only one of corns, and that a slight one. Since I came
here there are few days that I do not see horses lame from this cause,
although it can be but a fractional part of the evil that comes under
my ol-'?ervatio'.i.

In blamlncr the buttris for producing corns and other evils, a few
words of explanation is necessaiy. From the shape of this tool its-
tendency in cleaning out a foot with it, is to cut away both crust and
sole, bars heels and all to one level. In fact it is hardly possible
when using it to leave one part more predominant than another, en-
l^cially when it is the crust and bars that should be left and the sole

[U]

internal agencies ,s by no means a stiff or rigid body, but springs
and expands at every step, and along with thfs expan ion the Z
d seen s and flattens out fro. the weigh, of the horse rest.ng on Z

fort lZ:7'% """;'' ^'^ '^"^"^ °^ ^'^ -'« be not 'allowed
for m fitung the shoe, either by a seat worked .„ the shoe itself, or
by cleaning out the sole to a lower level than the crust, then the ole
m us descent presses on the shoe, and the sensitive part inside is
squeezed between it and the coffin bone. As the heel s par of the
^oun wh.ch expansion is greatest and the descent of the sole a^
coffin bone ™ost, and as the angle between the bar and crust i. t^e
place from wh.ch the sole is with .eatest difficulty remov so it'
•n the heels that the bru.sing ana ..rn producing action of bad shl^
.ng .s most to be met with. Yet I have seen on all part, of the si
round near the crust bruises caused by pressure of' the Jle dol„
vards on the shoe. The way therefore in which the but^ a ds in'
he production of corns is from its unfitness for effectually r mov p"
tl^ more depressed parts of the unnecessaiy horny sole. T Je
h^nds of a person aware of how the foot should be dressed, and whb
w. 1 take the drawmg knife and rasp to give the sole, heel , and t5«
the proper form after doing the rougher part of the work with Z
bnttris. It IS aa efficient and useful tool, and so long as people aUow

^oX 1 r 'T^ ^^ ^"" ''' ''' ™^"^^' «^ a'timaMoutZ^'
movmg the shoes, they can hardly expect it to be laid aside. I

abuse however ,f better understood would be easier guarded againrt

The common way in which I have seen feet prepared and shod
o^e" ;L f" t""' Tr' ^' '''' °'^ ^^- the'bu'ttris is broug^

It „ n 7\ ''' '''"' ^'"'^ ^**^ ^'^««« '^^•"g -ft -d easily L
get a hberal sUciag, a scoop is then taken out of the sole on eaclfsil

extending nearly to the toe, and forming a uniform- concdve fromtte

2"t of the frog to the out edge of the crust, so that when, a scooped

shoe IS placed on it, ir^tead of the foot and shoe presenting two lev^l

surfaces to each other, they rest upon two thin edges, and even w^h

the level shoe it is the thin out edge only of the crusl that bel the

weight : this ...oojr.ng out of iho sides of the soles is all the implement

can^convenientiy effect. It is not handy for rounding or shortening

buck the too and so is seldom bid to do it, that part being.Ieft cntii

oxcept a little out of th« sole surface which rather adds^han other.

wise to Its projecting point ; neither is it available for cleanings out the

aole from the angles between the heels and bars, leaving these part.

[12]

prominent to rest upon the shoe. All it can do here is to bring the
parts to a uniform level, and this being done with the foot off the
ground, the instant it is set down all the parts change their relative
positions, and if the sole was left equally full as the crust and bars
(parts designed to bear the horses weight,) it is now more so, and
a week or two's work and growth brings such a degree of pressure
on it as to bruise the sensitive sole underneath, rupturing some of the
minute blood-vessels with which it is studded, and showing the evil
that is done by the effusion of the blood through the pores of the horny
sole as in the condition called corn.

The foot being prepared in this way, the shoe is fitted (so far as it
gets any fitting) to its elongated and pointed form, and being turned
wrong side up so far as the shape of the toe goes, it is nailed as far
back towards the heels as nails can safely be driven, and the same
process being repeated time after time when the shoes are removed
we have the long contracted mule looking feet produced that we see
daily on our streets.

A system of shoeing free from these defects is just as easy to prac-
tice, equally cheap, and productive of far more satisfactory results.
The following is an outline of its most important points.

In making the shoes whether fore or hind, the elongated and
pointed shape should be studiously avoided, even when from previous
bad management the feet are contracted at the heels and flattened in
on the sides to an extent admitting of only a partial restoration to the
proper shape ; still the projecting point upon the toe can be dispensed
with, and a broad and solid bearing given in front. The fore shoes
if they have a concave seat should have a perfectly level bearing of
the breadth of the crust round the outside. The hind shoes do not
need seating as the hind feet have a greater concavity and less des-
cent of the sole than the fore. Both fore and hind shoes should have
a tip or projection turned up in front as a rest for the toe to bear
against in the descent of the foot, and an aid to the nails in keeping
it on. The web or body of the shoe stiould be of a uniform thick-
ness all around, and when heel caulks are worn they should be both
one length ; when only one caulking is worn the other heel of the
shoe should be thickened up to the same level. When toe caulks are
required either to give foot liold for heavy draught or for sharpening
in winter, they should extend as far laterally as the breadth of the
foot will admit, be as little prominent as may be to afford sufficient
hold, be of a uniform depth from end to end, so that all parts bear
equally on the ground, and have the bearing edge on the same level
as a line drawn between the points of the heel caulks.

[13]

The fullering or grooving of the shoe is n useful device for secur-
ing the even punching of the nail holes and protecting the heads Of
the naih from wear. Beyond this I am not aware of any benefit
from it, and it certainly has the disadvantage of weakening the shoe
and facilitating its being worn down. In France, many parts of
Britain, and in all the English Cavalry Regiments, the nail holes are
simply punched and couriter-sunk without any groove or fuller and
have a nail suited to the size and form of the hole. The shoe made
thus has a greater solidity and durability, and I have little doubt will
ultimately be the form preferred. But whether fullered or not there
are one or two things about the punching of the nail holes not to be
overlooked. They should all be so punched that the nails may enter
the wall of the hoof on its inner edge. No nail hole should ever be
seen on the seating of the shoe, nor nail in any part of the edge o*
the sole. To do this properly requires some nicety as both the thick,
ness and slope of the crust alter as we proceed from the toe to the
heels, and it is one of the things much neglected in the making of
shoes here, there being but few in which you will see a well gra-
duated range of nail holes. A point worse managed however is the
placing of the nail holes properly as regards their distance from the
heels. No nail should ever be driven into the foot further back than
its broadest part. This is a rule of nature's indication and she will
not suffer its violation with impunity. Beliind the broadest part of
the hoof the spring and expansion is such that it cannot be fettered or
confined without harm ; yet we seldom see a shoe made here that has
not one or two nails into the forbidden ground, and often they arc
nailed to the very heels.

As an instance : a gentleman drore a horse from Fredericton to
1st. John last winter who had been shod the day before leaving. He
was two days on the way, and before reaching here was lame on all
four feet. On taking off the shoes no special cause of lameness was
found in any of the feet except the fettering effects of the nails ; but
these were driven to within half an inch of the heel caulks, so as to
destroy entirety the natural action of the foot.

In another case a gentleman's horse in Portland had been lame
from corns noboby knew how long, as the hoof was so over-grown
that the corns had never been discovered. In this case tho fore feet
admitted of being shortened back more than an inch, and a propor-
tional quantity taken off the sole ; and the nail holes of the old shoe
instead of extending only hilf round as they should have done, occu-
pied more than two-thiru - !.<! the circumference from the toe to thf
heels.

[14]

A third instance may be mentioned. About a montli ago a gentle-
nian from Sussex brouglit a colt for me to see, being in the belief
Inmself that he was foundered as he was equally lame in both fore
feet. The most careful examination could detect no acute disease as
^a cause for his lameness, but both fore shoes were nailed on with
ten nails each, five on each side, and back almost to the heels a& if
mtended not to need removal during the animal's natural life

Since this was begun to be written, the following case occurred in
town as if to impress more strongly the necessity of exposing the
^system referred to. A dray horse was lame on a' fore foot ard was
taken to a forge and had a new shoe put on. Tiiree or four days
afterwards (the lameness in the mean time having increased) I was
called to see him. I found the cause of lameness to be a suppurated
■corn in one of the heels, the inflamation from which had run so high
as to break out at the top of the hoof between the hair and bone.
The cause of the corn was equally obvious. The shoe had no too
tip to steady it on the foot, but instead had u large one turned up at
■each heel, so as completely to fix the foot and make its lower part
rigid as if in a vice. On enquiry [ learned that a shoe, of ihe same
kind had been on before the recent shoeing, and had no tloubt pro-
<]uced the corn and lameness for which he was reshod; while the
more complete fixture of tho new shoe caused the inflamation and
suppuration I was called to treat.

These are not singular instances; similar ones are occurring almost
.every day, and anything approaching to a well made shoo is the o.v
ception rather than the rule in this country.

In the preparing of the foot for the shoe there is also as I hove
already noticerl, room for much amendment on the way it is practised
here. The buck parts of the hoof having less growth and more wear
on them than the fore, seldom require anything removed except it be
a little from tho outside heel. The frog should only be touched to
Temove any cut or ragged portions. The bars, those angular ridges
that be between the frog and heels should be left at their full strength,
and the sole between them and the wall of the heel thinned down so
far at least as to prevent the possibility of its descending on the shoe.
The sole at tho toe where it has the protection of the slioc should be
thinned out till it can be made to yield to the pressure of the thumb.
The crust should be shortened hack in fmnt. .5 notch taken out for
the reception of the upturned tip, and its whole lower surface where
it rests upon the shoe made plain and level. This is a most im-
portant point. Tlie weight of the shoe is supported by the aftaoh-
raent of the coffin bone to the inside wall o( the hoof. The lamina

[15]

by which .Ik connection I, f„n„e.l permilting of a very porc.n.lblo
umoun of „o„o„ of .he par,,, U i, con,i„„„r „i,h .his'h',. hT "

in» 7 h„ "'', "^ '^°''"' °' "'""= "'"i f""'. "l'='-o <ho boar

■ng of the one upon the other is hy the extreme out cd-es ihij,
wtdely departed from, and the effect, are »e„ in the hrol '?., I
an. contracted e.,ge, and heel, produced. wj„ I fo ^ ^ ''l'
Made w. hoot a seat as in ,he ca,e of having the side next the Z„„d

.evetWof'th'e"'": l"""", ""' """ "''''' "> "° «»'- "g '
in the hands of those ;.,o shXrel,; wL"?"',"" °"°' "'■"

D^^;:-:^ ^'^:';:x^: ^^ ^'^-^ t dnvm. of the nans.

the holes should bo so ^a,' o ° Sr^ S"'' .f '"'^"^- ^^"'^ «^"
sensitive parts nor so nonr ,l T i ^ "'''" "^ *« Pi't'ss on the

»nd as a^mlti":; Sir ^nV' Xmln^ t' °:r-.\''- .''"ff

hoof, and wherever i° Safle"h?:"l'Z, ':,,""=, 7'°' '"" "' "'"
withacom|)iMitionofirreisv3,„L ''""''' ^° """'^i' <>»or

mind them Sn the s\me hlf '"^'k^ .'" ''"''' = ^'^'^^ «'•«' '« »« re-
one to improve it, he al.o siid hSr L% '"^'^, *''^ '^"^ •^^ «''"'<?

■unfa sfcre of "pa ra|e°T„".V;t".^'f "\'L'''=^ '" °* "' ^
members. *= support from the Society and it»

Sf90-? CtS/tS^ t^5e^

r 16,1

But beyond this my object is to improve the condition of the art
t^enerally in tht; Province, and, to do this, sundry means present
ihemsdves. The first I would mention is the publication by the So-
ciety (if they think proper) of this letter and illustrations. I am
utware that its statetnenis will be new to many, to some no doubt
displeasing. Those who shoe as I have described the cultivators of
lon}r tnes and perpatrators of heel nailing will not like it, but this 1;
cannot help, improvement must not keep back for them. If their
modes will bear defending let them defend them, if they will not, let
'hem give them up for better, and iither way the public and tiiotn*
helves will profit. < n'iiHj

A second means that suggests itself is the sending copies of this to
parties at a distance where opposition need not create prejudice, and
from which some of* those who practice the art may come and see for
themselves the advantage of plans better than their own, and learn
them. A third means is altogether in the hands of the public. It is
for those who care for the welfare of their horses, and like them to
have all the advantages of a good shoe well put on, to send thepj ;
though but once to have a trial and then to judge for themselves.

(jfcntlomen interested in improvement visiting St. John, though only
now and then, by having their horses feet at such times put in pi^er
shape aiid well made shoes put on ihem, might soon be the means of
spreading a better system than the present to quarters not otherwise
likely to be soon leached, other means might be named, any in fact
by which butter information could be spread, and more rational praiB-
tices introduced, and we might hope soon to see the long toes disap'
pear and with them the "sprung knees," "corny heels," "ring*
bones," " contractions," and other collateral evils.

In conclusion, Mr. President and Gentlemen of the St. John Agri-
cultural Society, it would ill become me to advertise my own claim»
to business by your means, whore you are not interested, and to be*
nefiit as well as me : your Corresponding Secretary, in his letter to
Professor Dick, to which I have already twice referred, says, " If you
have any friend for whom you wish to provide comfortably, here is a
favorable opportunity for now doing so." I have no wish, gentlemen,,
for such " provision" as is here indicated : all I ask is such a share of
employment in the calling which ycu sought me to coma here for and
practice, as may enable me to live by it. J^or do I ask this without
offering you, as I have endeavored to show, advantages in exchange,
which you can no where else obtain : but do not take this on my
word, look into the matter yourselves, observe the number of horses ,
crippled in the different ways I have named, and, if fortunate in your
own having escaped, reflect tha^ it may not be always so, that be is
OS liable as othe»s to be the victim of a bad system. Ask if art and,

..„:^-.«« .••hf>>-» tKooo Viavn mnat hf»r»n piiltivntftd. nnn Hn nnvtfiina to

remedy or prevent such wholesale mischief , and, if yoqfind that they j

<;atf,|^ve t^e|m at least a tmUaod do not be content to live fifty years,

ifohmi tl»e rest of ibe yirorld, evea ioi tlie treatment of your horses' feet.,|

\ j iJ^ntlemeO} I hav|e the honor to be, ,0

'..,,!•.„,., iW mopt obedie:nt servant, ,,,

■ ''■'■'■"■ ^'^" , '^.'^^ • • M. A. CUMING, V.S. [^