SHOEING.
There are three points concerning this important subject on which
I should like to thoroughly convince my readers. Firstly, that the
theory, sometimes put forward, of dispensing with shoes for horses
that are intended to work in paved cities and over rough roads, is a
fallacious one; secondly, that the shoeing done at ordinary forges
is practically all wrong; and, thirdly, that there is nothing at all
derogatory in going down one’s-self to the blacksmith’s, in company
with the animal to be shod, and not only giving directions about the
way in which it will be most advisable to do it, but standing by to
make certain that it is actually done. Common errors among smiths
are these; cutting down the frog until it cannot possibly come in
contact with the ground; paring the sole, until it is either bedewed
with blood, or so thin that the effort to walk on it causes the horse
to wince; opening the “bars” which join the frog to the outer wall
of the foot; putting on unnecessarily heavy shoes; having a strong
predilection in favour of calkins; rasping down the wall of the foot
to fit the shoe, instead of making the shoe to fit the foot; and
removing too much of the heel horn. These faults proceed, as a rule,
more from ignorance than obstinacy, and it would therefore be a good
and wise thing if every farrier were to be made thoroughly acquainted
with the anatomy of the horse’s foot and leg: he would then perceive
what dire mischief he was in reality doing while pursuing the ordinary
stereotyped course which his father and grandfather probably followed
before him.
To look at this list of errors in review. First of all, the frog
should never be interfered with; to pare it with a knife is ruinous;
it _ought_ to touch the ground instead of being prevented from doing
so: nature intended that it should. It retains the hoof in proper
shape at the heels, prevents the tendency to slip, and in fact acts
as the natural buffer of the foot, giving it strength, security, and
elasticity, while its toughness enables it to travel over the roughest
country without shrinking or pain. It wards off concussion, being
surrounded by lateral cartilages which may be described as yielding
sidewalls, and is the contrivance supplied by nature for preserving the
superimposed structures from injury or passing hurt. Cutting into the
frog is, I am most firmly convinced, one of the chief causes of thrush,
and nothing can more clearly prove this than the fact that diseased and
wasted frogs, and thrushes of long and obstinate standing, have been
known to become completely cured by the adoption of a proper system
of shoeing--one that brought the frog not only near the ground, but
actually on it.
Navicular disease, that terror of every horse-owner, is without doubt
largely induced by improper shoeing, coupled with the pernicious
practice which I am now condemning, of cutting away the frog. This
valuable india-rubber-like substance should be jealously guarded, and
most carefully preserved from injury or waste; a knife ought no more
be allowed to touch it than permitted to penetrate the horse’s eye;
perhaps even with greater care ought it to be preserved, for whereas
some excellent goers have but one eye to see with, an animal on three
legs is of but little use to anybody, except the knacker, into whose
hands he is pretty certain soon to fall.
Second on the list of evils comes the paring away of the sole of
the foot, and so general is this most unwise operation, that grooms
absolutely prepare for it the night before their charges go to the
forge, by stopping their feet with cow-dung, or some other horrible
dirt. The practice is a cruel, useless, and highly deleterious one,
which owners of horses ought not in anywise to encourage or permit.
Third, is the hideous habit of opening up the heels: which means making
a deep incision into the wall of the foot _at_ the heel, just where
it is bent inward to form the bars. Nothing could possibly be more
injurious or injudicious than this detestable operation. It weakens
the wall of the foot, and occasions what all horse-fanciers strive to
guard against, the evil of contracted heels. The frog, sole, and bars
have each a separate and most important duty to perform, and are, if
unwisely interfered with, rendered absolutely incapable of contributing
to the carrying out of Nature’s exemplary plan.
Fourth, is the custom of putting on shoes that are too clumsy,
weighty, and thick. A thin, light shoe is in every respect preferable,
the lightness of the metal ensuring a firm foothold, while it likewise
brings the foot-proper in closer proximity to the ground.
Fifth, is the strong fancy for calkins,--things which I as strongly
decry, except for heavy draught horses, and for those accustomed to
trust to their assistance for backing weighty loads. Even where such
appendages are acknowledged to be necessary, a toe-piece should be
likewise added to the shoe and the forepart slightly thickened, in
order to ensure an evenness and steadiness of footing, together with
the keeping of the foot in its own natural position. A horse mounted
upon calkins without the addition of the toe-piece must feel quite as
uncomfortable as a vain belle when mounted upon a pair of tapering high
heels.
Another way of preventing injury in the form of contractions from
calkins is, to have the shoes forged of even thickness from heel
to toe, and then to remove a portion of metal from underneath the
quarters. A horse’s real weight is on his toes and heels: nature shows
this by weakening the hoofs at the quarters, and the law of mechanics
illustrates that if the extremities of any powerful substance are
equally and adequately sustained, the absolute _body_ which forms as it
were a bridge over the space, may be trusted without support.
Sixth, is a terrible evil: namely, employing the rasp to the outer wall
of the foot, in order to bring it down to the size of a shoe that is
too small for it. This cruelty is generally perpetrated by farriers
who consider themselves too hurried, but are in reality too lazy, to
undertake the forging of a properly fitting shoe, and so they lay hands
on one that happens to be lying by them, and having affixed it, proceed
to cut down the foot to its level. The wretchedness of the animal,
when set to walk upon this torturing protector, is precisely like that
which we should suffer were our feet to be crushed into boots or shoes
that were ever so many sizes too small for them. By this cruel practice
the horn of the foot is seriously injured, and months elapse before it
resumes its normal shape and condition.
[Illustration: FOOT MADE TO FIT SHOE.]
[Illustration: SHOE MADE TO FIT FOOT.]
Removing too much of the heel-horn is the seventh evil with which we
have to deal. This is a very usual practice, and is strongly calculated
to make a temporary cripple of the horse so operated upon. It ought
to be remembered that the ground face of the hoof should be even, and
justly proportioned from toe to heel, and that the sides of it ought
to be of equal depth. There is at times, indeed very often, an excess
of horny growth about the toe, but it is impossible to lay down any
precise rule with reference to the angle to which the hoof ought to be
brought: a competent eye will, however, judge of it, and will be able
to decide whether it is in conformity with the natural formation and
bearing of the limb.
[Illustration: LOW HEEL.]
[Illustration: HIGH HEEL.]
I have a great fancy for tips--otherwise half-shoes, nailed to the
toes only, and leaving both quarters free. I have known one or two
young horses shod in this way who have travelled quite safely, and
shown wonderfully healthy feet. For racers I particularly approve of
them, and for young light-weight hunters, especially when running in
a grass country. I am aware that there is a prejudice against them,
except for animals that are for awhile thrown up, but it is an entirely
ignorant one, and ought to be discarded. The late Duke of Wellington
was especially fond of tips, and for a long while rode his horses
with no other kind of foot-covering. He was at length, however,
induced to give it up, as he suffered torment from persons perpetually
informing him that his hack had cast a shoe. I have from time to time
been shown an immense variety of _india-rubber_ shoes, together with
other novel kinds too numerous to mention, and to all of them have
found some grave faults. Lyons has, however, lately produced a new
specimen, which has been experimented with upon French horses in a
manner somewhat successful. It is made entirely of sheep’s horn, and is
said to be particularly adapted to such animals as are known not to be
steady-footed when going over pavements. It is, moreover, excessively
light and very durable--two excellent qualities--and although at
present somewhat more expensive than the ordinary shoe, it will no
doubt come down in price when the novelty wears off, and will in all
probability replace the present style before the world is many years
older. For horses employed in towns it must be peculiarly valuable, as
it is said to be an effectual check against slipping.
[Illustration: FOOT WITH TIP.]
Before closing the present chapter, I should like to warn horse-owners
still further against the ordinary uses of the smith’s drawing-knife,
rasp, and heated iron, all of which are, as I have said, most
lamentably abused. By the first, especially, numerous “accidents” are
made to occur. The sole of the foot being all pared away and exposed
close to the earth, induces it to assume a harshness of texture totally
opposed to its natural qualities, which are soft and yielding--and this
change of structure is a fruitful source of corns. The outer portion
of the sole rests upon the web of the shoe; the coffin-bone descends,
and not meeting with any yielding substance to play upon, the flesh is
pressed between the inferior surface of the bone and the upper surface
of the shoe, causing malignant corns.
Again, the _educated_ smith, in order to give what he terms “a better
hold,” drives the fastening nails into the black or outer substance of
the wall of the foot; whereas the untutored Arab preserves his horses’
feet by permitting the walls to descend about half-an-inch below the
sole, and then driving the nails through this portion of the hoof. By
so doing, he averts the evil consequences of inserting iron into the
brittle substance, and secures at the same time the resistance and
tough qualities of the complex covering of the foot. While the English
smith is labouring to give a tight hold, he is in reality involving
three distinct perils--firstly, pricking the sensitive foot, should
the nail chance to turn a little bit on one side--a thing which very
often happens; secondly, driving a nail too fine, or, in other words,
too near the white horn--the consequence of which is that it, the
nail, turns _inward_ when the horse is worked, causing lameness to
ensue; and, thirdly, to avoid these evils, he points his nails so far
outward that the outer crust cracks, splits, and chips away, in time
occasioning a difficulty about finding any place at all capable of
affording holding properties for the necessary nails.
[Illustration: FOOT WITH FRACTURED HORN.]
[Illustration: SHOE HANGING PENDULOUS.]
It is owing to this evil that riders are so frequently inconvenienced
by their horses’ shoes becoming partially detached from their feet.
The weakest portion of the chipped hoof yields first, the remaining
fastenings follow, the shoe wags, the nails lose their hold--with,
perhaps, the exception of one or two,--when the foot is raised its
covering hangs pendulous from it, and when again put down some nail
still remaining in the shoe pierces the plantar surface of the foot,
or, perhaps, even penetrates the coffin-bone, and prolonged lameness
follows. “This may be, and no doubt is, all very true,” I fancy I
can hear some reader say; “but what on earth am I to do? I cannot
shoe my horses myself, and smiths are so intolerably conceited.”
Just so; they certainly are, and I can entirely sympathise with you;
horse-owners are _terribly_ dependent upon them, ladies in particular.
But I should advise you to do what I myself have found effectual,
namely, take your horses either to a thoroughly _competent_ farrier
(there are, happily, such to be found), or, what I think better still,
to a complete duffer!--one who knows very little about his trade, and
who, being aware of his deficiencies, will be humble enough to accept
your directions, and also willing to act upon them and thankful for
being afforded an opportunity of doing so. I have heard that railway
companies seek for fools to act as pointsmen; by all means, then, look
out for an idiotic smith!