The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1888-07-25
"Interrcrinrp in Horses


Interfering in Horses.
The subject of interfering naturally
interests a good many owners of horses,
and should interest shoers to that extent
that they will give it enough attention
to be able to overcome it in most cases.
There are several reasons why horses in.
terlere; one is, particularly with colts
aud young horses, too much work in a
| given time, either on the road or farm,
! especially in hot weather; another is, too
/ little nourishing food for the animal that
/ is asked to do so much work in a given
time; but the greatest reason, l freely
| admit, says G. II. Quinly, in the New
Hampshire Mirror, is improper shoeing,
for of all the bungling that l have ever
seen in shoeing the greatest has been in
regard to interfering. When | COM
mcnced to shoe horses | was taught to
pare the feet the lowest on the outside,
the idea being that 10y so doing the
ankles would be further to one side, so
that the opposite foot could pass it
without hitting. The first case of inter-
fering that had l adopted the above
plan. The horse struck more than ever.
l then used shoes with the inside much
thicker than the outside, so as to tip the
feet out still more. The result was that
the horse interfered more yet.
| then concluded that it was about
time to make use of my own brains, and
after considering the subject decided
to pare the feet level and to use COM
mon light shoe; the horse immediately
stopped striking its ankles and never
struck afterwards. My Judgment is that
t1,a e 4, l.
horse off his balance each step he takes,
and the recovering of his balance causes
him to strike his ankles, and my expert
ence of fifteen years has proven it. l
am indebted to the Centennial exhibition
held at Philadelphia in 1876 for the best
idea to prevent interfering. In the gov
ernment building was department de-
voted to the horse, showing several
skeletons, a great many specimens of
deformed feet and great variety of
horseshoes, one of which illustrated the
idea that am to speak of. The shoe
was similar to common ones except the
creasing and the position of the nail
holes. The outside crease, instead of
stopping as it usually does, continued
clear round the toe and stopped lust
back of the first nail hole on the inside,
so that there were seven nails used, four
on the outside, two at the toe and one on
the inside; the idea being not to have
any nails on the inside of the hoof, and
consequently no clinches to start up and
cut the opposite ankle with.
This form of shoe adopt for extreme
cases. l usually make the outside the
heaviest and have the shoe as light as
possible. The shoe must be fitted per-
fectly TO the hoof at the outside and toe
where the nails are. The inside should
he set under little, so as to straighten
the hoof little at the widest part The
advantage of this kind of shoeingis that
it leaves the inside of the hoof in its
natural state, which is, in a sound foot,
perfectly smooth, and perfectly smooth
surface will not cut hairs or skin on the
ankle of a horse. For winter shoeing
place the toe calk Just back of the
crease: For summer shoeing / use no
calks on driving horses, and frequently
cut the inside branch of the shoe off just
back of the nail hole. When | do this
use thin shoes, SO that the foot will
stand about level. Shoes driven on ac-
cording to the above plan will not stay
on as long as by the common one, but
they will stay long enough, for horses
that Interfere should be shod often, so
that their feet will not get too large for
the wider the hoofs are tie more liable
they will be to strike. The shoes should
be nicely filed up, so that there will be
no rough edges to come in contact with
the opposite ankles or knees.
I it the shoes to the feet, with the ex-
ception of Strengthening the hoof little
as above mentioned, and do not allow
the inside branch of the shoe to set out
at the heel or to be longer than the out
side branch. Ifthe Creator had designed
an addition TO be built on that part of
the hoof He would have placed it there.
When | use common shoes on horses that
are liable to strike, l use only three
nails on the inside, as the fourth nail
comes at the part Of the hoof with which
the horse strikes the opposite ankle; (;
sometimes leave out the third, only
using two on the inside. Most of these
remarks refer to shoeing the hind feet.
For horses that are much given to strik-
ing with the front feet l use the shoe
that is creased and nailed at the toe, as
know of no other way to prevent some
horses from cutting their ankles.
There are two classes of men whose
horses do not expect to shoe so that
they will not interfere. One we will call
the sooner Glars; if do not shoe their
horses so that they will stop striking i'm
mediately they will rush off to some other
shop, not thinking that it is much harder
to correct an evil than it is TO prevent it.
The other is the wise class, who assume
to know all about shoeing horses but
really know very little; this class wish
to dictate the shoeing and consequently
must abide the result. will add that
colts frequently interfere before they are
shod on account OF their feet being grown
to an unnatural length. This can be
avoided by having them trimmed before
using,