Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/503

 the bars of gates, in the draw-bridges of fortifications, or in heavy ground.

'4. They move heavily, as the weight of their shoes fatigues them.

'5. Long shoes with massive heels raise the frogs from the ground, and prevent the horse walking on those parts. Then, if the horse has a humour in the frog, it becomes a ficthrush, or crapaud (canker), because the humour lodges there. In shoeing with short shoes, the horse goes on his frog, the humour is dissipated more easily, particularly in the fore-feet, as the animal places more weight upon them than the hind ones.

'6. Long shoes, thick at the heels, when put upon feet which have low heels, bruise and bend them inwards, and lame the horse, although the heel be sprung, and when the foot is raised we can see daylight between the shoe and the hoof; when it is on the ground, the heel descends to the shoes, because the hoof is flexible.

'7. Shoes long and strong at the heels, when the foot is pared, the frog being removed a long distance from the ground, cause many accidents—such as the rupture or straining of the flexor tendon, and compression of the vascular sole, a circumstance not known until I pointed it out.

' 8. Long shoes cause horses to slip and fall, because they act like a patten on the slippery pavement, as well in summer as in winter.

'9. Long shoes are also injurious when horses lie like a cow, in consequence of the heels wounding the elbows.

'10. Calkins should not be used on paved roads; they are only useful on ice or slippery ground (terre grasse).