Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1885-11-25
MAat ! BlAcksnltA says abeat Horses

WuMt UaoCAoMlt1 says oO0ut H0rScAs
sHorssshueing seems al easy trade
TO master by Any n strong enough to
beat : red-hot iron on an anvil" re-
marked . workman blacksmith, while
converting about the size, weight and
shape OF the shoes for hard pavements
and soft-road work; "but not one in
three OF so-called horse-shoers should
be allowed to handle q horses hoof.
There Is q knack in il that cannot be
taught Unless q man has nm intuitive
impression Of the animals disposition
that he is working on. and q pretty fair
knowledge of the anatomy OF and the
diseases incidental to the foot, he is
unfit to clean a foot or fit d shoe.
There are workers in our line of bust
moss that can never be regarded as first
class in it, although they may have
toiled years at the anvil, while again
there are others who, almost without
instruction, will, in q week or q month
after they enter b shop and put on a
leather apron, do work that is admira-
HE. A horses foot is like unto a mans
in many respects. 1t may be large and
clumsy, or it may be small and shapely;
!: may be troubled with corns, and the
frog Of the foot, which is a horny, elastic
substance. may be as sensitive to the
touch as a lady's finger. 1t is often
diseased. There are q hundred things
that will interfere with the usefulness
OF a horse-that may be developed by
carelessness or cruelty-in the foot
alone. If You woald have an animal
worth the trouble Of caring for, see to
it that his feet are kept in good condi.
ton. There are people who will keep
shoes on their horses two or three
months at q time and wonder why it is
they walk as if their feet were sore--as
II they were treading on tho points of
needles that ran deep into the flesh at
every step. No quadruped Oh which
shoes are put to protect the hoof from
unduly cracking or fostering should be
permitted to wear them longer than
four weeks without removal and reset
ing. l have had horses in here the
hoofs of which had grown quite two
inches I've the edges of the iron!
There are horses that should have their
feet looked to every two weeks, but it's
troublesome to bring them so often to
us. and their owners take the risk
while the poor animals suffer. Often
fever sets in, the frog and the coffin
bone become diseased, abscesses are
formed and the sores breed worms.
Remember, the whole weight of the
body rests on all below the pasterns.
To remove these troubles what would
seem to n who knows nothing of the
horse rough treatment is often
adopted. The fever must be reduced.
To do this the inner parts OF the foot
are cleanstsl, tar and oakum applied,
leather placed between the sole and the
shoe, and other methods pursued. A
horses shoe, l repeat, should be re.
moved, il for no other purpose than to
cleanse the foot. twice or thrice a
every shoe put On the foot shold lee
made to conform to it. 1t is a little
curious, too, how horses use their feet.
In this they are much like human be-
ings Some will wear the shoe on the
lett, others on the right side. Again,
some will strike the ground with their
toes first, and many will wear away the
calks down smooth and leave the toe
bit quite perfect. Horses that strike
the ground with the heel of the foot
rather than with tie toe are rarely ex-
ceptionally fast. To overcome this
difficulty in trotters. the toe is weighted
that is,a piece of metals inserted be-
tween the sole and the shoe-just slip
ped in and readily removed--which
greatly helps the horse. Corns? Oh,
yes; there are many horsestroubled with
corns. 1t arises from, ! might say, the
same causes which give growth to them
in men and women. namely, ill-fitting
shoes. Corns imply toes, do they not?
Well, horses are provided with toes.
But they are hidden by the hoof. Re-
move that and you will see the bony
joints that constitute their toes as per.
fectly developed as those that are seen
in e Originally horses were dig
itigraded, but, doubtless from some un-
known necessity. the digits gradually
disappeared, because clothed with a
hornlike protection as we see them to-
day.--Brooklyn Union.