The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1909-04-15
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DRAFT HORSES.
Tendency to Defective Fore Feet 10 o.
Great Weakness.

think the weakest point in eur
draft horses to-day is detective fore
feet. AS nearly as can estimate iron
the Investigations made in the second.
hand sale stables in Chicago, wksrs
fully so per cent. Of the draft kerses
that are used upon that city's streets
are thrown aside, at least rs per cent
Of the draft horses are rendered use
less after few years service because
OF lameness. the seat of which 10 IN
the fore feet
You go onto the market IN Chiease
with q bunch Of god draft hsrses 1oI
sale, the inst Fart Of the Aors0 the
buyer looks ct 10 thesf0ro fest, and g
they are net sound and right. the DSseoF
II Immediately out dswn.
The fore feet are the NEST i0Dor
tant part Of the horse from ~ ussv'S
standpoint IN the United States today.
and very little attention II paid %
that point a. = rule.
The second weakest point 70 IN the
hook joint. and about II per csnt. Of
the draft horses in our large cities are
discarded because Of weak. detective
and unsound hook joints. These I'VE.
the fore feet and the hook joints. are
points which we should consider care
fully. .-
Now, what are the weaknesses In
the feet? We are using In this coun.
try more Percherons than we are Of
all other draft breeds together; they
are the breed that seems to DO the
best suited to our American people,
and the Percheron horses fore feet 10
perhaps his weakest point. Many Of
them are too small; not small perhaps
at the surface of the ground, but small
where the hoof and the hair Join at
the hoof-head or coronet. This Is the
particular part Of your PercherOn
herse's fot, which you should e1-
anime carefully in locking for weak.
ness in q breeding horse. Get good
large hoof-head, with plenty OF depth
and width in hoof at the heel, then see
that the pasterl or ankle blends nice
~ into the hoof. The ankle from the
fetlock joint down to the foot in the
rercheron is frequently very short
and very straight, and IL long, sets
too far back. Pasterns should have
IN angle of about As degrees, but
should be clean and smooth and show
lots Of quality of fiber and give full,
nice, round blending of the bone and
sinew into the hoof. Now, then, the
foot itself. Get a foot that is wide in
the heel and deep from coronet to
ground surface. Get horse with
hoof that is dense, that is, closeness
of the fibers altogether. You do not
want a hoof In which the fibers are
not laid closely together, giving you
a smooth, hard, bone-like horn. A
hoof that is not smooth on its surface.
dense and close fibered, will not hold
the shoe and will wear of very quick.
ly if not shod.
When you look at the bottom Of the
foot, get one that is concave, followed
up In the center and with good,
large, full, well-developed frog. The
frog is one of the most important
parts of the horses foot, the cushion
which is placed there by Nature to
break the conclusion as the horse puts
his foot to the grouad. Very frequent
~, as our horses are shod In this
country, the weight comes all outside
on the rim of the foot, which is not
intended to bear all the weight, but
we have so shod the horse in many
instances that the frog is all drawn
up and shriveled and the sole 10 fat
tened out.