Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1853-12-03
Practice of Shooting Horses.

Charles Perciyal, veterinary surgeon Of the
ROYAL Artillery, furnishes the following commu-
nication to one of the Dublin papers:
have lately been devoting much attention to
shoeing, and fatter myself that the horses un-
der my care are well shod.
The shoe / found in use here was made con-
cave next to the foot, and fat on the ground
surface, than which in my opinion, nothing could
be worse. This shoe | have had reversed, max
ing the latter as concave the foot will possibly
admit of, leaving only sufficient room between
the shoe and the foot for the pricker to pass
freely round to remove dirt, &c. To the heels
of the shoe | have given an inclined plane out
wards on the foot surface, with three nails on
the inside and four on the outside. The heels,
instead of being cut off straight, are well sloped
and about the same thickness as the toe. The
shoe one third as thick at the heel as the toe,
recommended by the late professor, themajority
of horses could not travel in. There are many
pernicious practices which smiths in general, if
left to themselves, fall into, viz:
l. Mutilating the frogs by improper cutting ::
| have at length got my farriers to understand
that the only part of the frog which requires
cutting. unless ragged, is the point, to prevent
the sensible frog being bruised between it and
the coffin bone
2. Inhicting serious injury to the crust by an
improper use OF the rasp, but especially the
coarse side of it.
g. In fitting the shoes, by cutting too much
out of the crust at the toe to admit the clip.
The shoe is consequently set too far back, in
stead of being fitted full to the crust, and after
wards rasping away the crust making the foot
in fact, to fit the shoe, instead of the shoe to fit
the foot. This is faulty practice, and very
seriously so, which smiths in general very
apt to fall into; one, too, witch renders the crust
shelly, for the part into which the nails are tlrv
en- from time to time is in this way rendered
weak.
4. In turning shoes smiths in general do not
attend sufficiently to bevelling or sloping the
edge of the shoe from the foot to the ground
surface, which | consider of great Importance,
especially if horses are given to cut or inter-
fere in their action.
5. Cutting the heels of the shoe off straight
This is also very bad practice: if we'll sloped,
like shoe for hunting, to which there cannot
be any objection, they are less liable to be pull
ed off by the hind shoe catching in them, and
contribute more to safety of both horse and ri
der.
6. Leaving the inner edges of the hind shoes
at the toe sharp, which, if we'll rounded, will, in
great measure, prevent Over-reaches, as well
as render the fore-shoes less liable to be pulled
off by their catching in the heels Of the former.
Squaring the toe of the hind shoe for rises that
FORGE or 'carry the hammer and pincers," as it
is termed, leaving the horn projecting over the
shoe, is, in my opinion, good as a general rule,
not only preventing that unpleasant noise, but
rendering horses less liable to overreach and
pull off their fore-shoes, provided, however, at
tention be paid to rounding the inner edges.
I. In rasping the under part of the clinches,
farriers are very apt to apply the edge of the
rasp improperly to the crust, forming deep
grove around the same, which cannot but be in
furious to the foot, and together with taking
away too much of the crust in finishing off the
foot, must have tendancy to render it shelly.
Curving the shoe at the toe, after the French
fashion, where horses 60 near the ground, am
very fond of, but cannot see any advantage in
1t as general practice.