The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1904-03-12
LEvRLING THE HOOP.

The levellng and balancing OF the
hoof and the methods employed by
practical horseshoers vary but little,
and that little depends upon the con-
dition of the hoof and legs of the
horse to be shod, says practical shoer
in the H0rsesHoe,'s Journal.
To give the reader clearer idea of
the methods employed by practical
horseshoers it is necessary to make a
great many explanations, in convey
ing the idea to the reader, of the meth
DDS employed by the practical horse
shoer when preparing the hoof for
the shoe.
The first part of the work is to re-
move the shoe, and in doing that see
that your clinchers are all cut SO as
not to break the wall when raising the
shoe off the hoof.
The shoe removed, clean out the
bottom or sole part of the hoof, being
sure that you remove nothing but the
loose dead parts, that is, in sound,
healthy feet. The next is to remove
the higher parts of the wall to level
with the sole that abuts the wall.
By dressing the wall to level with
the sole, you distribute and enlarge
the bearing surface of the wall but
if the sole is dressed past its natural
level on one side of the wall do not
rasp off the other side to get it even
with the sole, or you may throw the
hoof out of level. AS that word level
means the future welfare of the horse,
for without level hoof and center
to pass over, no horse moves without
friction, as the unleveled hoof means
an uneven bearing on the heads of
the upper and lower pastern bones,
also the coffin bone, one of the hard
est to treat successfully when injured.
AS few men can dress board to
given width, length and thickness
without using the square or rule, it is
also fair to say that the farrier cannot
get lengths, widths and angles with
out the square and level.
Leveling and balancing the horses
hoof for the shoe is one of the most
essential parts of the farrier's art, as
one or two cuts with the knife will
undo what nature took months to ac-
complish.
AS much of the rasping and cutting
of the horses hoof is the wish of the
owner, the farrier Is not always to
blame for thin pairing and high rasp-
ing of the anterior wall means fever
and contraction of the hoof, and later
on, corns and maturated heels. If
owners and theorists knew more of
the anatomy of the hoof and leg of
the horse there would be less lame
horses and better mechanics working
at the art of horseshoeing.
AS the preparation of the hoof for
the shoe means years of study and
thorough knowledge of the anatomy
n must s not sf Sc Supposed that every man
calling himself a horseshoer or farrier
is master of the art he processes to un
derstand.
To level and balance the hoof first
find the center of the hoof in front of
the coronet by running string from
the cleft of the frog close to the coro
nary band around the hoof, then dou-
BILE the string and run it back from
the cleft of the frog to the front of
the hoof close to the coronary band as
before, and you have the center of the
hoof in front of the coronet. To find
the top center at the bottom of the
hoof, lay the square lengthwise of the
frog, taking the cleft of the frog for
the center of the hoof run your line
from the cleft of the frog down over
the frogs point to the toe and you
have the center of the hoof top and
bottom. Then apply the leveler, and
if the hoof is level the square will
stand directly over the line from the
toe to the coronet; if not, the square
will pass the line at the coronary band
to the high side of the hoof. To get
the height of the heels, use the slid
ing square at the back of the leveler.
The length and angle of the toe will
be found by using the square attach
ed to the front of the leveler. The
next is to balance the heel. Again
you must use the level and place the
hoof on it with the cleft of the frog
straddle of the back square, and the
square in front over the centre toe
line, and the figures on face Of the
leveler shows the big or small side of
the hoof, if it is not balanced. Hav
ing the hoof leveled and balanced, it
is ready for the shoe.-Rfder and
Dyi0er.