THE
ART OF HORSE-SHOEING
A Manual for Farriers,
[Illustration]
BY
WILLIAM HUNTING, F.R.C.V.S.
_Editor of The Veterinary Record._
_Veterinary Inspector for Westminster and Chelsea._
_Consulting Veterinary Surgeon to the London Road-Car Company._
_Member of the Committee for National Registration of Farriers._
With nearly one hundred Illustrations.
London:
H. & W. BROWN, 20 FULHAM ROAD, S.W.
1895.
CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE.
I.--INTRODUCTION
II.--FORM AND ACTION OF THE FOOT 9
The hoof. The sensitive foot, growth and wear of hoof.
The bones, cartilages, pads and vessels. Action of the
foot, expansion and contraction, function of the frog.
The natural bearing-surface.
III.--PREPARATION OF HOOF FOR SHOEING 32
Bearing-surface for shoe. Proportions of foot, height
of heel, length of toe, treatment of sole and frog.
Faults to be avoided.
IV.--THE FORM AND MANUFACTURE OF SHOES 48
Material, weight, thickness, width. The foot-surface
of shoes. The ground-surfaces. Calkins, nails and
nail-holes. Machine-made shoes. Prepared bar-iron.
V.--SELECTION OF A SHOE 65
For varieties of horse and work.
VI.--FITTING AND APPLICATION OF SHOES 67
Level or adjusted form. Outline fitting, surface fitting.
Clips, hot and cold fitting. Tips. The Charlier system.
VII.--ON ROUGHING 83
Necessity for, evils of. Frost-nails, ordinary "roughing."
Movable steel sharps, steel screw sharps.
VIII.--INJURIES RESULTING FROM SHOEING 90
From nails, from the clip, from the shoe. "Corns,"
"burnt sole." "Treads." "Cutting or Brushing."
"Over-reaching." "Speedy-cut." "Forging or Clacking."
IX.--SHOEING BAD FEET 100
Flat feet, convex soles, broken feet.
X.--LEATHER AND RUBBER PADS 107
Plain leather, ring-leathers, frog-pads. The Pneumatic
Pad, The Wedge-pad, The Bar-pad.
XI.--SHOEING COMPETITIONS 112
PREFACE.
This little book is written for three classes of readers--for
horse-owners who may interest themselves in the subject, for farriers
who are open to conviction, and for veterinary students who have to be
examined.
The method pursued has been, to first describe the form and action of
the foot, next the preparation of the foot for shoeing. Then the form
of a shoe is treated of and the details to be observed in making it.
The selection of shoes for varieties of feet or for special kinds of
work follows, and afterwards the fitting and nailing-on are considered.
Other chapters are devoted to "roughing," shoeing defective feet,
accidents, the use of leathers and pads.
Throughout an endeavour has been made to be as simple and clear as
possible in expression, to lay down correct general principles and to
point out the technical details which are essential to good shoeing.
On all these points authorities are not agreed, and I trust those who
differ from me will pardon any too dogmatic expressions of opinion in
these pages.
The illustrations will be of assistance in making clear the text.
Some of these are copied from books, some are drawn from models or
preparations, and some are diagramatic. The books I am indebted to are,
"Anatomy of the Domestic Animals," by Gamgee and Laws; "On the Horse's
Foot," by Bracy Clark; Bouley's "Atlas of the Foot," and Goyau's
"Maréchalerie."
WILLIAM HUNTING.
16 Trafalgar Square,
London, S.W.
THE ART OF HORSE-SHOEING A MANUAL FOR FARRIERS.
CHAPTER I.
Farriery is the art of shoeing horses, and can only be properly learned
by a long practical experience in the shoeing-forge. If the foot of the
horse were not a living object perhaps the training obtained in the
forge would be all that was necessary for efficient workmanship. As,
however, the hoof is constantly growing it is constantly changing its
form. The duty of a farrier therefore is not merely to fix a shoe upon
the hoof but to reduce the hoof to proper proportions before doing so.
Now as hoof is only the outer covering of a complex and sensitive foot,
damage to the exterior surface may injure the structures within. Injury
does frequently result, and not always from carelessness. Perhaps as
much injury follows careful work, based upon wrong principles, as
slovenly work carried out in perfect ignorance of any principle. The
injury to feet resulting from shoeing may not be apparent at once. It
may be, and often is, of a slow and gradual nature, and not credited to
its true cause until the horse is rendered an incurable cripple.
It seems evident then that to do justice to a horse a farrier should
not only possess manipulative skill, but should have a correct idea
of the structures and functions of the foot, as well as a thorough
knowledge of the form and variations of the hoof.
Few persons appreciate the importance of horse-shoeing, whilst a small
number tell us it is unnecessary. Here and there an enthusiast has the
courage of his convictions and is able, for a time, to exhibit animals
doing work without shoes. In some countries horses are regularly ridden
with no addition to their natural hoof, but in such places the surface
over which the animals travel is grass land. In all civilised countries
where good roads exist shoeing is practised. The gentleman with a fad
who occasionally appears in England with unshod horses at work is an
unconscious impostor. He sets his little experience against the common
sense and universal practice of others. No man of business would pay
for shoeing if he could do without it. The "shoeless" experiment has
been tried over and over again, but always with the same result--a
return to shoeing. In dry weather the hoof becomes hard, and it is
wonderful how much wear it will then stand on the hardest of roads.
In wet weather the hoof becomes soft, and then the friction on hard
roads soon prohibits work without shoes. If work be persisted in, under
such circumstances, the hoof rapidly wears away and lameness results.
Persons trying to prove a pre-conceived theory meet this difficulty
by resting the horse until the horn grows, but business men who keep
horses for work in all weathers can afford no such luxury. Shoeing has
been called "a necessary evil." The phrase is a misuse of words, for
there is no necessary evil about it. Of course it is no more free from
accident than other operations, but its evils are fairly described
as accidents, whilst its benefits are fully apparent. Without shoes
horses at work would be more often lame than with them; without shoes
horses could not do half the work they do with them, and so we need not
further discuss the necessity of shoeing.
The value of horse-shoeing depends upon the manner in which it is done.
Very seldom does the owner of horses appreciate the quality of the
work. As a rule the price charged, or the distance from the forge to
the stable, regulates the choice of a farrier. Not having any pecuniary
interest in the trade, I may say that such matters should not be
allowed to decide between one farrier and another. A bad workman may do
an injury at one shoeing which will cost the owner of the horse more
than would pay ten times over the difference between his charges and
the higher prices of a better man.
Many years ago I knew a firm who changed their farrier and system
of shoeing for a cheaper plan. The cost for shoeing alone fell very
considerably, but the cost of horse-flesh rose in one year more than
£100. The old saw--"that for want of a nail the shoe was lost, for
want of a shoe the horse was lost, and for want of a horse the man
was lost," has been illustrated times without number. Few persons,
however, are aware of the terrible consequences which have more than
once attended neglect in the shoeing of horses. Napoleon's retreat from
Moscow depended for most of its hardships and horrors upon the simple
fact that his horses were not shod properly for travelling on snow and
ice. The horses could not keep their feet, and were unable to drag the
guns and waggons, which had to be abandoned. During the Franco-Prussian
war, Bourbaki's retreat became a confused rout from a similar cause.
In civil life no winter passes without injury and death to hundreds of
horses from the same neglect. These are instances that anyone can see;
but heavy losses due to bad shoeing are constant from other or less
evident evils--from the adoption of wrong methods and the practice of
erroneous theories.
The farrier has not been fairly treated by the public. His practical
knowledge has been ignored, he has been instructed by amateurs in all
sorts of theories, and coerced into carrying out practices for the
untoward results of which he has been blamed. The natural consequence
of all this has been that the art of farriery degenerated, and the
farrier was forced into a position destructive to the self-respect of
any craftsman. In no other trade do persons entirely ignorant of the
business presume to direct and dictate as to how the work should be
done. No one presumes to instruct the watch-maker or bell-hanger as to
the details of his craft, but the farrier has been compelled to take
his instructions from all sorts and conditions of men.
Only in recent years has the man who shoes horses been allowed to know
something of his calling. Various causes have acted in putting an end
to the state of discord, and the trade is now entering upon a brighter
time. The Worshipful Company of Farriers--one of those ancient City
Guilds which had survived their original vocation and usefulness--has
wakened up, and is striving to resume its proper function as the head
and director of the trade over which it ought to preside. Agricultural
Societies have also taken the matter up, and fostered a healthy
emulation amongst farriers by instituting practical competitions at
their shows. Veterinary Surgeons have devoted considerable research to
the elucidation of the anatomy and physiology of the foot, and many
old errors have been corrected. School Boards have made the present
generation of farriers able and willing to supplement their practice
by a study of principles. We have, in fact, arrived at a time when
everyone interested seems inclined to recognise the importance of the
art and its technical difficulties, and when no one has a brand new
infallible discovery which alone can save the horse and guide the
farrier.
My object in writing is not to suggest anything new but to point out
the general principles upon which the art is based, and to indicate
those details which are essential to success, and those which are to
be avoided if soundness and duration of service are recognised as true
economy in a stud of horses.