Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1880-06-09
Communication.
For the BUTLER CITIZEN,
Driving the Horse Shoe.

The first step in the driving of a
shoe, is to reniove the old one, if there
be any on, and too often there is not !;
as people generally leave them on till
they come off before they think of hav-
ing their horse shod | have taken off
shoes that had been on seven months
Leaving shoes on too long is produc-
tive of bruised sole. To take off shoe
properly, the clinches should be all cut
and if the nail heads are to deep to be
caught by the nippers, the nail should
be driven back with small punch no
larger than the nail then draw each
nail with the nippers. not as is
generally done, one side of the shoe
torn off at time with large pair of
pincers, bruising the sole and causing
the horse to jerk loose from the smith;
great injuries have been done in this
way, besides learning the horse bad
habit, for | have seen horses so afraid
from being hurt in this way that you
dare not put the pincers under the shoe
at ALL
Next comes the pareing of the foot.
This requires good judgment on the
part of the shoer, as there is hardly
two feet that requires the same treat
ment. There is given line in which
the feet should come to the ground
The foot should be pared with an eye
to this. Never cut away the sole,
most especially on fiat feet. / don't
like the hoof knife on that account; it
is so well adapted to pareing out the
sole and bars and so little use to take
down the wall. The frog should not
be cut away as rule.
Next in order is the fitting of the
shoe. As there are not many hand
made shoes used now we will begin
with the dressing of the shoe, which
in my opinion begins with welding on
the toe calk, the length of which
should be in proportion to the size of
| the shoe and never more than five.
eighths of an inch high, set ON the
shoe and not beside it. The toe calk
should stand up square with the shoe
1t is an advantage to travelling horses
to set the toe calk back from the edge
of the shoe as it relieves the strain on
the tendons of raising over the extreme
point of the foot Toe clips are an adj
vantage to any shoe and not injurious
to the hoof as is sometimes thought.
Shoes should be swedged so that the
nail holes on the foot surface would be
from one-fourth to three-eights of an
inch in from the edge of the shoe, ac-
cording to the heft of the hoof, as their
swedging splits off the hoof Nail
holes should be punched with a small
ia pered punch which packs the iron
around the hole and gives the nail a
better bearing, not with large blunt
ended punch which tears large hole
through and leaves the nails no bear
ing except the under edges of the head.
The nail should drive tight in the hole,
as loose nails wear out the holes
Nail holes should be punched with a
slope equal to that of the foot, the
front ones most and each nail back
with less. Next, the fitting, which,
like the pareing, depends on the foot
as to how it should be done. The
| shoe should rest on the wall of the
foot, but there are cases of deformed
feet in which this will not apply; in
these cases good judgment is the all
importantpoint. Next the shoe should
be as long as the foot and no longer.
The heal calks should be as high as
the toe or higher, never lower; in
fact think the foot should be as close
to the ground as possible, little or no
calks at all. The shoe should be level
on the foot surfrce, not as many fit
| them with convex bearing so that