IMPROVEMENTS IN SHOEING HORSES, AND IN THE MODES AND MEANS OR APPLIANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Parlane McFarlane Walker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st March 1870.
I, PARLANE MCFARLANE WALKER, of the Town of Ardrossan, in the
County of Ayr, North Britain, Veterinary Surgeon, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHOEING HORSES, AND
IN THE MODES AND MEANS OR APPLIANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows,
that is to say :-
This said Invention consists, first, substantially in the making and use
of a new or improved artificial "frog," "tread," or "pad," fixed over or
on the natural frog or back central part of the hoof or heel of both the
fore and hind feet of horses, for the purpose of making this part of the
foot take or sustain an important part of the weight of the horse, and
the concussion and action of the feet; which natural frog part, by the
modes of shoeing horses usually adopted, sustains little or none of the
pressure natural to it when the hoofs are unshod, and the advantages of
this Invention are that it lessens the shock and concussion of the feet,
prevents them from slipping, particularly on hard paved roads, and
during frost, and expands and keeps the hoof out to its natural shape so

page_text: as to prevent its contraction, and having the central part of the sole
between the metal shoe and the frog, by preference, free and open. This
new or improved artificial "frog" is made, by preference, of vulcanized
india-rubber or other equivalent elastic material, such as its compound
with other substances, made of a flat, triangular, or semi-elliptical shape on
the outer face, considerably smaller than the interior of the metal shoe,
with the inner surface fitting as accurately as possible to the shape of the
dressed frog, and having a triangular ridged or raised gusset piece
projecting up into the "cleft" of the frog at the extreme back of the
heel. This "frog" is made to project a little beyond the "tread" or
bearing surface of the iron shoe, of, say, from one-sixteenth to three-
eights of an inch, according to the hardness of the material of which it
is made, and the pressure desired to be put on the natural frog in particular
cases and circumstances, greatest for strong heavy horses and for hard
paved roads. These artificial "frogs" are made of the various sizes and
shapes to suit those of the natural frog, and have their "tread" surface
made plain or roughened by projecting ridges, or it may be, indentations
formed on or in them; the new elastic "frogs" may, by one construction
and means of fastening them to the hoof, be formed in one with or on a
thin web or layer (about the size of the hoof they are required for), and
of a preparation of sheet india-rubber with non-elastic substances, as
canvas, or other cloths, leather, or wire cloth, which would serve to fix
the whole to the hoof by fastening the thin web part between the
"tread” or sole to the hoof and the metal shoe by the nails or other
fastenings heretofore employed for fixing the shoe; however, instead of
forming these "frogs in one with the web piece they may be formed
separately, and afterwards attached or fastened by nails, screws, rivets, or
sewing to the said non-elastic or semi-elastic webs, or to webs formed of
gutta percha, or a mixture of gutta percha and india-rubber homogeneous
or in layers, or of leather, or thin metallic plates, (all either perforated
or not as desired to prevent closeness in the centre of the foot) or
springs, or straps, which may be fastened to the hoof between the sole
and the metal shoe as in the former case, or to the inner edge of the
metal shoe, in which case the springs, straps, or bars may form
"clutches" to the shoe so as to hold the artificial "frog" in position over
the natural frog, or these separate and detachable "frogs" either with
or without the leather or other web may be connected to the natural
frog, or frog and sole, by gutta percha or other suitable solution or
cement.
"

page_text: Another part of this Invention consists in making and using a toe
"tread" piece of the same or similar elastic materials to those of the
new "frog" piece herein described, placed and attached in a recess
formed at the front of the metal shoe, either by forming the shoe in
two pieces or half side shoes with a space between them, or by bending
the toe of the shoe back towards the frog over the middle of the sole,
but not so as to rest on this part, this toe piece being either formed in
one with, or attached to the web (passed between the shoe and the hoof)
in the same manner as described in reference to the artificial "frog," or
it may be screwed or rivetted to the iron shoe, a thin part of which may
be left between it and the hoof, and this "tread" elastic toc piece is also
made to project beyond the bearing surface of the shoe, as described in
reference to the artificial "frog."