Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-04-14

will admit ofvery little shortening in the
toe, being always weak, and the heels al
ready too low for the rasp and the sole
presents so little dead horn, that the draw
ing g-knife should beused with great dis
cretion. Perfect and tolerably wei Lformed
feet, with fair growth Of horn, should
have the toe shortened, the heels lowered,
and the sole we'll pared out-that is, all
the dead horn removed, and, if need
be, some of the living too. The
sole ought to be kept a little
lower than the edge of the wall,
so as to prevent II from pressing on
the shoe, but it must not be very much
thinned. Some people are urgent in
directing 1t to be closely pared, for the
purpose of making ii more elastic. There
can be no greater drawback, however,
than thin sole. 1t should always be left
as thick and strong as circumstances will
permit. 1t will then answer its intended
purpose In protecting the internal parts of
the foot from injurious local pressure.
When the toes are disposedto grow long,
and the heels deep, they ought both to be
well pared. If this is attended to, the foot
will preserve its proportions remarkably
well. A toe that is too long is uncomfort-
able and unsafe Walking over it will
fatigue the horse and if the toe is not
! lifled high, the animal will be likely to
strike it against stones on the road. The
heel should be lowered to reasonable tx.
tent, but the pairing must be confined en-
tirely to the ground-surlace. The wall at
the back of the heel and at the edges of
the frog should not be touched with the
knife. Opening out the heels, us ii is
called, is q most reprehcnsible practice.
1t means cutting away the sides of the
bars, so as to show an apparent increase
of width between the heels, which may
for time deceive the eye; but it is n
mere illusion, purchased at the expense of
impaired power of resistance in the bars,
and ultimate contraction of the foot
1t is self-evident that the removing
any portion from the sides of the bars
must diminish their substance, and rem
der them weaker, and consequently less
able to resist contraction. These parts
are intended to be firm, solid and unyield-
ing, and therefore they ought TO be kept
rs strong as possible. As corns are pro-
duced by the pressure of the shoe upon
the sole, the smith must be careful not to
weaken the bars or the crust at the place
where they occur. II the crust and bars
are in the slightest degree weakened, they
will yield under the weight of the horse,
and thus press so injuriously on the in
tervening sole that corns are nearly GER
tain to result.
BY the mischievous interference Of art,
the protruding, plump, elastic cushion,
interposed by nature between the navicu.
lar joint and the ground, and so essential
to its preservation from injury, is convert
cd into the dry, shrunk, unyielding apol-
ogy for frog to be seen in the foot of al
most every horse that has been regularly
shod for a few years. The shrinkage OF
the frog is the result, not only of the use
of the knife, but It is also a consequence
of shOeing without the assistance of the
knife. Indeed, shoeing seems almost Ia
check its growth entirely in the gencrali
ty of feet; for if we compare the size ol
the frog with the circumference of the
, foot in horse accustomed 20 be shod, we
, shall find the space occupied by it will
not exceed One-tenth, or even one-twellth,
, of the whole circumference whereas, in
: the natural and unshod foot, it occupie,
about one-sixth. The evident practice
then, should be, to leave the frog entirely
alone, and never allow knife to touch it
Nature will remove the superfuous horn
and the rags can do no harm and, if un
, molested, they will soon wear of and dis
appear together.-Ndti0Rdl LiUe-StOcl
\ Journal.