Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/682

 stuck between the foot and shoe, with the intention of shielding the surface that has been, through ignorance, rendered morbidly sensitive and defective. What is called the excessive growth, or exuberant horn, was intended to protect the lower surface of the foot from wounds and bruises, to maintain the elasticity of the young horn beneath, and to aid the crust in sustaining the weight and impulsive efforts, at the same time strengthening the latter at its point of union, and preventing its being broken or worn away too readily.

These remarks, which we can scarcely too much insist upon noticing, apply with equal force to all horses, from the dray mammoth, to the fleet race-horse or diminutive Dartmoor pony.

Indeed, they are perhaps more applicable to the case of race-horses and hunters than to any other class. With these animals, it is of the utmost importance that the feet, especially the fore ones, be accurately levelled on both sides or ground face, according to the rule laid down, so as to obviate the risk of sprains and dislocations during rapid and energetic movements, particularly lateral twists of the lower joints. By leaving the sole, bars, and frog intact, the foot is not only strengthened, but muscular fatigue is wonderfully diminished, especially in traversing heavy ground. When the sole has been thinned and hollowed out into a cup-like shape, the foot readily penetrates to a greater depth than if it were flat, and is also more difficult to withdraw, because there is a larger extent of surface in contact with the tenacious soil. In proportion to the width of cover in the shoe, and the space between it and the sole, there is a still greater