IMPROVEMENTS IN SHOES FOR HORSES AND MULES
Year: 1884

page_text: I CHARLES SHEATHER of York Terrace Regents Park in the County of
Middlesex, Veterinary Surgeon do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN SHOES FOR HORSES AND MULES to be as follows:-
The objects of this Invention are to prevent, relieve, and cure or aid in curing
many of the foot diseases of horses and mules; to increase the strength and
delopment of their feet and to give them greater security of foothold on all kinds
of pavement; to protect their feet from injury in a more efficient manner than
under the ordinary system of shoeing, and to offer facilities for applying simple
additional means to prevent slipping in all states of the yarious pavements in
vogue and in all states of the weather.
To these ends the Invention consists in the construction of shoes for horses and
mules of two main parts viz.:-a foot rest or heel piece for the rear part of the hoof,
rendered non slipping by a novel arrangement of rubber plugs, and attached to a
flexible sole piece, and an iron tip or "lunette" of peculiar construction to protect
the striking portion of the hoof from injury.
To make the sole piece I preferably employ flexible vulcanized rubber or leather,
of from toor of an inch in thickness, and I cut a piece to the rough
outline of the horse's foot.
;
I then take another piece or block of rubber, leather or other durable material
preferably "hard vulcanized fibre" (though "flexible vulcanized fibre" or leather
may be used) of a thickness varying from to of an inch or even more according
to the foot it is for.
This second piece or block I shape to the outline of the posterior portion of the
foot, covering say from rd to of its surface.
The sides and back of this piece of material correspond in contour with a portion
of the "quarters" and "heels" of the "crust" of the hoof, and with the posterior
portion of the frog.
The front part of this piece may be of semicircular or pointed form and may fill
up the whole or a portion only of the space enclosed by the tip or "lunette" to be
presently described.
1

page_text: This durable block or heel piece is drilled in two or more places to receive each
a plug of rubber which when secured in place will act to prevent slipping. When.
leather is used for the block its durability may be increased by numerous plugs of
wood metal or composition.
The rubber plugs which are preferably very elastic are secured in the holes in
the heel piece by suitable means, such as by enclosing them in leather or metal
casings with flanges which can be securely attached to the upper surface of the
said heel piece; rivets or sewing being used to unite the plugs and their casings.
The ends of these plugs will project beneath the heel piece for 1 to 1 of an inch
or thereabouts, and will have a slight endway play through the said heel piece
when the full pressure of the frog is upon them.
The means for fitting these plugs in place may vary considerably without
materially affecting my Invention. To fix the heel piece to the sole piece I may
attach a piece of leather or vulcanized fibre to the heel piece and sew it to the
sole, after the manner of welting a boot. Or I may deeply-channel the heel piece
on its under side and sew it to the sole piece by waxed threads; the said heel piece
corresponding in position with the rearmost portion of the sole.
These two parts may also be united by screws, rivets or plugs of any suitable
material, or in any other suitable way.
The sole and its heel piece may in some cases be made of paper felt, rubber and
canvas, or other suitable material.
The durability of the heel piece may be increased by the introduction of metal
wood or composition where necessary. Any indentations in the foot surface of the
sole may be filled up by a solution of gutta percha in carbon bisulphide.
To complete the shoe the tip or "lunette" must be made. It may be of iron or
steel and, except in one particular, may resemble the tips in common use. The
essential difference between my tip or "lunette" and all other tips, is that its rear
ends or "branches" are not thinned down, but are of the same thickness as the
tip" itself and the ends are cut through at right angles to the ground surface.
It is shaped to the front portion of the ground surface of the foot, contains the
usual number of nail holes, may or may not be "seated out or bevelled, according
to its substance, and is thick and square heeled.
$
•
The following is the method of applying the shoe.-
"
The tip or "lunette" is heated, a clip drawn at the toe, and when shaped to the
foot for which it is intended, a hole is punched at each end of the tip.
The tip is then laid on that portion of the "sole" not covered by the heel piece,
and its ends are cut square to fit tight up against the front edge of the heel piece
fastened to the sole. A "stub" is driven into each hole at the rear ends of the tip,
through the "sole," and rivetted or clenched at the other side.
"
The complete shoe is now applied to the horse's foot and nailed on with the
ordinary nails which pass through the "sole" and so retain the whole "armature
in place. The rest of the shoeing, such as cutting the nails and clenching, is
performed in the ordinary way. A lock of tow saturated with tar may with
advantage be introduced between the "sole" and the foot.
The wall of the tip on which the hoof stands (being only separated by the sole)
may be serrated or dentated by a tool, to afford additional resistance to the sole
tearing out.
The hind foot from its function and configuration requires a modification of
shape of the shoe and the heel piece of the shoe fills more of the space on the inner
side of the tip or shoe.
The combined heel and sole pieces constitute a "semi-plantar sole," that is a sole
of which only about one-half or one third actually touches the ground.
The absence of any iron under the posterior of the foot, except in the case of a
hind foot, when the iron may extend back one "heel" if there be any danger from
"cutting" leads to great development of the "heels" of the "crust," as well as to
increased functional activity.

page_text: "It should be borne in mind however, that as the feet and gaits of horses differ,
so-slight variations are necessary in making shoes, according to my Invention, for
horses with irregular feet, gait or action.
Thus for some hind feet the iron tip may have both branches short like the front.
tip, while in other cases one, or possibly both, of the branches must be left long..
Dated this 24th day of January 1884
I CHARLES SHEATHER of York Terrace Regents Park in the County of Middlesex,
Veterinary Surgeon do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SHOES FOR HORSES AND MULES" and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The objects of this Invention are to prevent, relieve and cure, or aid in curing,
many of the foot diseases of horses and mules; to increase the strength and
development of their feet; to diminish concussion to their limbs, and to give them
greater security of foothold on all kinds of pavement; to protect their feet from
injury in a more efficient manner than under the ordinary system of shoeing, and
to offer facilities for applying simple additional means to prevent slipping in all.
states of the various pavements in vogue and in all states of the weather.
To these ends, the Invention, relates to the use in combination in a shoe for
horses and mules of a yielding or semi-elastic or flexible heel pad of leather or
rubber (or leather and rubber combined) attached to a flexible sole piece for the
rear part of the hoof to rest on; and an iron or steel tip or "lunette" which
only extends back as far as the " quarters" and does. not approach the "heels" of
the crust (or horny rim) of the hoof, for the front part of the hoof to rest on; the-
sole piece intervening.
The Invention also relates to the use in combination with the heel pad, flexible
sole. piece and tip or lunette above described, of rubber plugs protruding from the
surface of the heel pad the better to prevent slipping on asphalte or other smooth
pavements.
The main principle which has been followed in constructing shoes. according to
this Invention consists in making provision for the distribution of the weight upon
the foot of the animal in a suitable manner over two portions viz. a hard metal
front portion or tip, and a pad of softer substance such as leather or rubber; or
a combination of two such substances, constituting the rear or rear and central
portion of the shoe, and secured in place upon the hoof by a flexible sole piece
fixed or gripped between the said hoof and the iron tip or lunette.
In the accompanying Drawing Figure 1 is an inverted plan view of a non
slipping composite shoe constructed according to the above principle-Figure 2
is a section of the same on the line x. x of Fig. 1-Figures 2A and 2 B. are detail
views of a rubber plug such as I employ and of the method of fixing the same in
place in the heel pad.

page_text: 6 Figure 3 is a top plan view of the flexible sole piece to which the rear pad of
leather or rubber is attached-Fig. 4 is an inverted plan view of a slight
modification of my Invention suitable for country roads, the rubber plugs being
then no longer necessary, and being replaced by metal plates, buttons, studs, nails
or rivets of any suitable form, which protect the leather pad from cutting by
stones and grit. Figures 5 and 6 are inverted plan views of two shoes for hind
feet and will be fully described hereafter.
"
In these Figures similar letters of reference indicate like or corresponding parts.
A. is the sole piece which goes next to the hoof. B is the rear pad attached by
stitching or rivetting to the sole piece A. and C. is the iron tip or "lunette
accurately fitting against the pad B. as shewn at c. c and serving when nailed to
the hoof to securely hold the sole piece A. (and consequently the heel pad B also)
in position on the hoof..
I preferably make the sole piece and heel pad out of leather, of from one-eighth
to three-eighths of an inch in thickness-The sole piece I shape roughly to the
outline of a horses hoof, and it may have a hole of one inch, by one-inch and
a-quarter, or thereabouts punched out opposite to the body of the frog, if the body
of the frog be prominent.
The rear portion of the pad B. is shaped so as to accurately conform to the
contour of the rear portion of the sole piece (that is from b. to b. on the Drawing)
a distance which includes a portion of the quarters of the crust; the heel of the
"crust" (or rim of the hoof) and the posterior portion of the "frog."
The front part of the pad B may be of curved or angular form, and may occupy
the whole or a portion only of the space enclosed by the inner circumference of the
tip or lunette C. The pad B may be composed of several thicknesses or layers of
leather, or leather and rubber combined, the several pieces or layers being firmly
united by metal brads, screws, nails, cement, stitching, rivetting or otherwise.
I have also found that plugs of hard wood inserted in the layers of the non
metallic heel pad may be advantageously used in some circumstances.
This pad B may have two or more holes cut in it for the reception of plugs D. D.
of soft rubber, which plugs however are mainly intended for use on asphalte
pavements in towns and cities, and are not necessary for country roads.
I prefer to construct the pad B as follows. The upper layer of leather forming
the pad B is strongly sewn to the sole piece A, so as to keep them in close
proximity and in proper relation.
This upper layer of leather b¹ may be described as a welt, such as is used for
uniting a sole to the "upper" of a boot. The rest of the pad B may be constructed
like the heel of a man's boot, care being taken to keep the outline accurate, and
the holes in the several layers for the rubber plugs (when used) in line with one
another.
.
The upper layer 61 of the pad B I preferably make larger than the other layers,
and of the shape shewn in the Drawing, but the other layers 63 and 6³ (Fig. 2)
may be cut straight across from the inner angles c¹ c¹ of the iron tip C, to form
a gripping or non slipping edge to the pad; or their edges may be bevelled off and
will still prevent slipping. The exposed portion of the upper layer 6¹ may be
covered with a metal plate nailed, screwed or rivetted on and the number and
thickness of the several layers of leather forming the pad B should be determined
by the thickness of the iron tip (see Fig. 2) so that the foot when resting on the
ground will be supported equally and horizontally on the composite shoe. The
union of the layers of leather, rubber, or other durable and elastic substance,
forming the pad B may be assisted by cement or glue.
The size and number of the screws, nails, rivets or plugs will depend on the
requirements and nature of the locality and conical, pyramidal, or chisel-shaped
heads may be used if desired to give additionally secure foothold.
The rubber plugs D D are cylindrical pieces of rubber with a flange at one
extremity and a rounded or oval head not exceeding the diameter of the body of

page_text: the plug at the other. The body of the plug is exactly the same size as the holes
into which it is to be introduced.
Holes are perforated in the welt-The plug is pushed through the hole till the
flange sinks to the upper side, the welt is then sewn to the sole and drawn tight
to it thus imprisoning between the two, the flange of the plug, the other layer or
layers of the heel pad are then fixed on by metal brads, or other alternative
methods, leaving the oval end projecting through and above the last layer. The
shape of the plugs and the method preferably employed for fixing them in place
in the heel pad are clearly shewn in the detail views Figures 24 and 2B.
The whole of that part of the shoe which has been described as of leather might
be moulded in a rubber or other durable and semi elastic composition, or part only
thereof might be so moulded-It might also be formed by means of dies and great
pressure out of very thick raw hides chemically treated or tanned, the essential
features being durability and semi elasticity so far as the material is concerned.
Chromate leather" is suitable, among other kinds, for making the pads and
66
soles.
The tip or lunette C.may be made of iron or steel of any section suitable for
shoeing horses and mules, and except in one particular may resemble the tips in
common use The essential difference between my tip or lunette C and all other
previously known "tips" for horse shoes is that its rear ends or branches C¹ are
not thinned down, but are of the same thickness as the tip itself; and the
ends C¹¹ are cut off at or about right angles to the plane of the wearing
surface.
It is shaped to the front portion of the ground surface of the foot, contains
the usual number of nail holes, may or may not be "seated out" or bevelled.
according to its substance or the nature of the foot it is for, and is thick and
square heeled.
The following is the method of applying the shoe :-
The sole A having been applied to the foot so that no portion projects at the
rear of the foot, a mark is made on the sole at the point where the toe of the foot
will come.
All the sole in front of this mark is pared away to accurately conform
to the front portion of the hoof.
The tip C, roughly shaped, is then laid on that portion of the previously
prepared "sole" A, not covered by the heel piece B. When the tip C is in its
proper place and its front edge coincides exactly with the toe of the hoof, the
square cut heels of the tip should exactly abut against the front walls of the pad B.
If the said "heels" are too long to fit properly against the pad, they must be
shortened by heating and cutting, or by cutting cold in a machine.
The tip C is then heated, a clip c is drawn at the toe, and holes d d are punched,-
one at each end of the tip-A "stub" (or nail) is driven into each hole d d at the
rear ends of the tip C, through the "sole" A and rivetted or clenched at the other
side as shewn in Fig. 3-This uniting of the parts it will be understood is effected
after each part has been separately fitted and accurately shaped to the hoof.
The complete shoe is now applied to the horses foot and nailed on with the
ordinary nails which pass through the "sole" and so retain the whole shoe in place.
The rest of the shoeing, such as cutting the nails and clenching is performed in the
ordinary way A lock of tow saturated with tar may with advantage be introduced
between the "sole" and the foot.
The wall of the tip C on which the hoof stands (being only separated by the
sole piece A) may be serrated or dentated by a tool to afford additional resistance
to the sole tearing out.
The hind foot from its function and configuration require a modification of shape'
of the shoe and the heel piece of the shoe fills more of the space on the inner side
of the tip or shoe.
•
"
Fig. 5 shews in inverted plan view a "near" bind shoe for a normal foot
constructed according to my Invention and Fig. 6 is a similar view of an "off".

page_text: '
hind shoe for the most usual deviation from the normal, a deviation which is almost
as common as the normal.
The same letters of reference are used to indicate similar parts to those previously
described.
It will be observed that in these hind shoes a clip is drawn at the "quarter" of
the tip as well as at the toe. This "quarter, clip" (marked in the Drawing) is
generally advisable in the hind foot.
The shoe represented in Fig. 6 is what is called a "cutting shoe" and is intended.
for horses that cut or brush their fetlocks when in action.
This form of shoe may in some cases be adapted to front feet when a horse cuts
or brushes his fetlocks or other parts.
"
It will be observed that in this shoe the "inside toe" portion of the tip has no
nail holes and is bevilled off to diminish or prevent the striking of the leg by
the foot..
The bevelling is on the inner side of the shoe. It will also be seen that one
branch of the tip is left longer than the other.
The principle of construction however remains the same that is to say, there is
the tip of peculiar. construction combined with the flexible sole piece and the
yielding heel pad in substantially the same manner in all the shoes.
The combined heel and sole pieces constitute a sole of which only about one-half
or one-third actually touches the ground, but cases may and do occur in which it is
advisable for all within the tip to reach the ground-A kind of arch or hollow
may be scooped out of or cut in the abrupt front edge of the pad B to assist in
giving increased flexibility to the pad under pressure of a horse's weight, as shewn
at E Fig. 4.
་་་
"
The absence of any iron under the posterior one-half to one-third of the foot
(except in the case of a hind foot when the iron may extend back one "heel" if
there be any danger from "cutting") leads to great developement of the "heels
of the "crust," frog and bars, by exciting increased functional activity; this is a
distinctive feature of the Invention.
It should be borne in mind however that as the feet and gaits of horses differ so
slight variations are necessary in making shoes according to my Invention for horses
with irregular feet gait or action.
Thus for some hind feet the iron tip may have both branches short like the front
tip while in other cases one or possibly both of the branches may be left long.
I am well aware that india rubber in various forms and elastic pads of various
shapes have been applied to horses hoofs or combined with entire metal shoes to
prevent horses from slipping and I make no claim to novelty in the use of rubber
for such a purpose.
•
I am also aware that sole pieces of leather or semi elastic material have been
combined with a complete iron shoe for the purpose of diminishing the effects of
concussion and I make no claim to any novelty in such an application of leather
or its equivalent, but,
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is,
1. In shoes for horses and mules the use of a semi-plantar sole, consisting of a
flexible sole piece such as A united to a yielding, flexible or semi elastic heel pad
such as B, in combination with a metal tip or "lunette" such as C, substantially as
described with reference. to the Drawings whereby a firm foothold is secured and
increased functional activity tending to a great developement of the "heels" of the
'crust," frog and bars of the hoof is promoted.
$5
2. In a shoe for horses or. mules the combination with a flexible sole piece A, of.
a yielding or semi elastic heel pad B secured to the said sole piece and fitted with a
plug or plugs D. D of rubber or its equivalent; and a metal tip or lunette C. as
and for the purpose set forth.

page_text: 3. In a shoe for horses or mules the combination of a flexible sole piece A,
yielding heel pad B of leather or rubber (separate or combined) or of an elastic
composition attached to the said sole piece and so shaped as to totally fill in the space
marked by the inner rim of tip or any part of such space, and a tip or lunette C.
adapted to fasten the sole piece to the hoof and so shaped as to be flush with the
wearing surface of the heel pad B when the parts are properly fitted in place.
4. In a shoe for horses and mules the combination with a tip or lunette C having
square cut "heels"
or ends and holes for attaching it to the hoof by nailing, of a
flexible sole piece A adapted to be interposed between the said tip and the hoof,
and a yielding or semi elastic heel pad shaped as described to prevent slipping and
protected against wear by nails, screws, plates, buttons, studs or rivets, as and for
the purpose set forth.
5. The modifications of the Invention described with reference to Figures 5
and 6 for the purposes set forth.