LEATHER AND RUBBER PADS.
In the days when farriers were driven by theoretical teachers to pare
out the soles and otherwise rob the foot of its natural covering
of horn, artificial protection had frequently to be given to the
foot. A horse with a thin sole could not travel over rough roads,
on which sharp loose stones were plentiful, without great risk of
injury; consequently in those times plates of leather were often used
to protect the foot. When a horse went "a little short" his owner
not unnaturally concluded that he had bruised his foot and that the
protection of a leather sole would be beneficial. In many cases the
defective action was due to other cause than bruising, but still the
leather was adopted, and it soon became an accepted theory that leather
soles modified concussion and protected the foot from jar. This is
more than doubtful, and I hold a very firm opinion that a plate of
leather between the shoe and the foot has no such effect, whilst it
interferes with the exactness of fit of the shoe. "Leathers" are useful
on weak feet to protect a thin or defective sole from injury. When the
under surface of a foot has been bruised, cut through, or when it is
diseased, leather offers a useful protection, but when the sole is firm
and sound it is quite unnecessary.
To apply leather properly, a square piece fully the size of the shoe
is taken. A portion is then cut out where the clip has to fit and all
protruding parts cut away level with the border of the shoe. If applied
without more precautions, an open space would be left between leather
and sole into which mud and grit would find their way and the leather
would soon be cut through by resting on the irregular surface of the
frog. To prevent this mischief the under surface of the foot is made
level before the shoe is applied. The leveling is managed by spreading
a paste of tar and oatmeal over the sole, and filling up the space
at the sides of the frog with tow. Then the shoe with the leather is
nailed on in the usual manner.
The belief in leather as an anti-concussive appliance has led to the
use of what are called "ring-leathers." These are not plates covering
the whole under surface of the foot but narrow bands fixed between shoe
and hoof. They are absolutely useless, in fact their only possible
effect is to spoil the fit of the shoe. Plates of india-rubber have
been tried between the shoe and the foot as preventives of concussion.
They invariably fail by reason of their effect upon the shoe. At each
step when the weight of the horse comes on the foot the elastic rubber
yields, the shoe is pressed closer to the foot, the nails are loosened,
and when the foot is raised the rubber rebounds. The shoe soon becomes
so loose that it is cast or torn off. Nothing elastic should be placed
between shoe and foot. When an elastic or spring is applied it must be
between the shoe and the ground.
Various arrangements have been adopted to supply the horse's foot
with some provision against concussion. Injured and diseased feet may
no doubt be benefitted by some elastic appliance which secures them
from the jar of contact on a hard road. They may be protected against
direct bruise. The healthy foot requires no such protection. Nature
has covered it with a thick layer of horn and has provided against
concussion by quite other means--by the co-ordinate action of muscles,
by the oblique position of the pastern and by the construction of the
back part of the foot.
Quite apart from any attempt to prevent concussion a valuable use has
been found for india-rubber pads in connection with horse-shoeing.
The improvement in modern road-surfaces has been accompanied by an
increased facility for slipping, and it has been found that no material
gives such security of foot-hold on smooth surfaces as india-rubber.
The earliest of these contrivances with which I am acquainted was
formed so as to leave the frog uncovered whilst a bearing of rubber was
given all round the inner circumference of the shoe. This pad had a
wide flat border which fitted under the shoe, with which it was nailed
on to the foot. Its great objection was that it could not be nicely
fitted on many feet without first cutting away the bars.
Then we had rubber pads which were not nailed on with the shoe, but
which fitted into the shoe and were removed at will. The objection to
these was that they could only be used with a seated shoe and could not
be applied with a narrow shoe or one possessing a flat foot-surface.
The next form to appear was a leather sole on which an artificial
frog was fixed. Great difficulty was at first experienced in fixing
this frog so that it remained firm. The difficulty has not yet been
surmounted by all makers, but Mr. G. Urquhart, of London, makes a
most reliable article. These "frog-pads" certainly give a very good
foot-hold on all kinds of paved streets.
[Illustration: Fig. 86.--Frog-pad.]
A pad of very elegant appearance is "Sheather's Pneumatic." It is not
solid like the ordinary frog-pad but hollow and is compressed at each
step but immediately resumes its prominent form on being relieved of
pressure.
[Illustration: Fig. 87.--Sheather's Pad.]
One of the simplest anti-slipping pads is "Balls & Keep's Wedge-pad."
It possesses one advantage in not covering up the whole under-surface
of the foot. When properly fitted it is firmly retained and does its
work, but a careless farrier may so apply it that it shifts on the
foot. To fit it exactly the wall of the back part of the foot must be
lowered more than that in front, so that shoe, foot and pad may all be
closely adjusted.
[Illustration: Fig. 88.--Wedge-Pad.]
[Illustration: Fig. 89.--Pad with Shoe attached.]
What is called the "Bar-pad" is a leather plate on which an
india-rubber pad occupies the whole of the back portion and it is fixed
to the foot with a short shoe. This pad is not only an anti-slipping
agent, it is anti-concussive, and for some diseases and some injuries
of the heels is a most valuable appliance. For long-standing "corns,"
for cases of chronic laminitis, and for horses that markedly "go
on their heels" the bar-pad is without doubt the most efficient
arrangement yet invented. The best are made by Mr. Urquhart.
[Illustration: Fig. 90.--Bar-pad with Shoe.]
[Illustration: Fig. 91.--Without Shoe.]
All these pads increase the cost of shoeing but what they save, by
preventing falls and injuries to the horse and fear and anxiety to the
driver, far more than balances the account in their favour. The cost
however is an item, and inventors have turned their attention to the
production of some other methods of applying rubber in connection with
the shoe for the prevention of slipping.
Shoes have been manufactured into which cavities of different forms and
sizes have been made. These are filled by correspondingly shaped pieces
of rubber. The cavity must be so formed as to retain the rubber and
this renders the manufacture very difficult except by the employment of
malleable cast iron shoes. This is a great disadvantage.
Another plan is to make from rolled bar iron, a hollow shoe, section
of which would be U-shaped but level to the foot. Into the groove so
formed a thick cord of rubber is placed after the shoe is nailed on
the foot. This wears well and affords good foot-hold but it entails
the serious objection that the nails are difficult to drive and far
from being so safe as in the ordinary shoe. If rubber is ever to be
available in a grooved shoe it should be designed so that the nails and
nail holes are not interfered with.