Read Ebook: The Art of Horse-Shoeing: A Manual for Farriers by Hunting William

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In Fig. 55 is shown a shoe with as wide a bearing-surface as in Fig. 54, but which loses half its bearing because the foot-surface is too narrow to utilise it.

In Fig. 56 we have a model bearing-surface on the foot, nearly twice the width of the wall, and we have a shoe with a flat foot-surface capable of using the whole bearing. Such is the fitting of all hind shoes, and it might well be adopted with advantage in all fore shoes on good feet.

A very unsightly appearance and very defective work results from the fireman leaving his clip at right angles to the line of the shoe. It should be inclined backwards at about the same slope as the portion of wall against which it is to rest. The two diagrams illustrate what is meant.

Tips do not give a good foot-hold on grass, but they afford greater security of tread on hard smooth roads and on ice than long shoes. The great advantages of tips are two-fold--they are light, and they permit the greatest freedom of movement and action in the posterior part of the foot. In some cases of chronic foot lameness the use of tips and regular work will effect soundness when every other method of treatment has failed.

"ROUGHING."

In winter, ice, snow, and frost, render roads slippery, and it is necessary to provide some arrangement whereby horses may have the greatest security of foot-hold. In countries such as Canada or Russia, where a regular winter sets in at a tolerably uniform date and continues without intermission for some months, it is easier to adopt a good system of "roughing" than in Great Britain. There, on a thick layer of ice or snow, sharp projections on the shoes cut into the surface and afford foot-hold. The edge of the projections is not soon blunted, and when once properly placed their duration is as long as the time desirable for retaining the shoe. Here, very different conditions obtain. Sometimes a week or two of frost and snow may prevail, but more frequently the spells of wintry weather are counted by days. Two or three days of frost and then two or three days of mud and slush, to be followed by either dry hard roads or a return of ice and snow, is our usual winter. We require during this time to provide for occasional days, or more rarely for weeks, of frost-bound roads. Our horses' shoes wear about a month and then require replacing by new ones. When roads are hard and dry we want no sharp ridges or points about our horses shoes, and yet we must always be able at twenty-four hours notice to supply some temporary arrangement which will ensure foot-hold.

The necessity for "roughing" and the evil effects of continuing to work unroughed horses on slippery frost-bound roads is demonstrated in London every winter by a very significant fact. If after three days of ice and snow, anyone will visit a horse-slaughterers' yard, he will find the place full of dead horses which have fallen in the streets and suffered incurable or fatal injury. A sudden and severe attack of ice and snow half paralyses the horse traffic of a large town for a day or two, and many owners will sooner keep their horses in the stable than go to the expense of having them roughed. The loss in civil life from unpreparedness for ice and snow is very serious, but the loss which has fallen upon military movements from similar neglect is appalling. Napoleon's rout from Moscow in 1814, Bourbaki's flight into Switzerland in 1871, and the Danish retreat upon Koenigsgratz in 1865 are terrible instances of the frightful loss sustained when horses are unable to keep on their feet at a walk, let alone drag guns and wagons over an ice-covered surface.

A well-managed stud of horses which is required to face all weather and to work every day through an English winter should, from December 1st to March 1st, be shod in such a manner as to be easily and speedily provided with mechanism which will afford secure foot-hold. This may be effected by the use of moveable steel "roughs" or "sharps." Of course the cost is the argument against them, but this should be considered in view of the probability or certainty of loss which will follow from neglect. If we allow common humanity to animals to enter into the consideration, economy will be served by adopting a well arranged system of roughing. Every good horseman appreciates the enormity of over-loading, but neglect of roughing causes just as much cruelty. A horse that on a good road can properly draw a ton would be considered over-loaded with two tons, and his struggles to progress would at once attract attention. The same animal with half a ton on an ice-covered surface would suffer more exhaustion, fatigue, and fright, and run more risk of fatal injury than in the case of the over-loading, but his owner who would indignantly repudiate the one condition will designedly incur the other.

Probably this is only thoughtlessness, but it is a reflection on the prudence of a manager, and certainly not flattering to the feelings or intelligence of a man.

There are many ways of providing foot-hold for a horse on ice and snow. The most simple and temporary proceeding is to use frost-nails. Fig. 65 shows various sizes and shapes of these articles.

They are not driven through the hoof like ordinary nails, but through the shoe only, which is prepared for their reception at the time of fitting. A shoe to carry frost-nails is fitted a little wider than usual at the heels and has at its extremities, or more often at its outer extremities, countersunk holes stamped and directed outwards so that the frost-nail can be safely driven through by anyone and its shank turned down over the shoe. There is a difficulty in firmly securing them, they are apt to work loose and then become bent and useless. If used on the inside heel of a shoe they constitute a danger to the opposite leg should they bend and protrude from under the shoe. As a temporary provision against a sudden frost or fall of snow they are useful--but they are only a make-shift.

The more permanent and effective system of "roughing" consists in removing the shoes and turning down a sharp chisel projection at the heels. In very bad weather a projecting edge is also laid across the toe of the shoe.

The diagrams show the method of "sharping" a front and hind shoe at the heels only. The hind shoe, having calkins, is not much altered. The smith simply converts the square calkin into a sharp-edged one. The fore shoe having no calkins is turned down at the heels to afford enough iron to form the 'sharp.' But this shortens the shoe, and if it be repeated two or three times, as it often is, the bearing surface is spoiled, and the slightest carelessness in fitting the shoe causes a bruised heel. 'Roughing' is generally done in a hurry. A dozen horses reach the farrier's shop at one time and all desire to return to work with as little delay as possible. The work is perforce hurried through, careful fitting cannot be done, and bad-footed horses suffer accordingly. The dotted lines in Fig. 66 show the original length of shoe, and the shortening which results from a second roughing.

All horse-owners know how many lame horses result from the repeated roughings necessitated by a week or two of wintry weather. Some of this is inevitable from the rush and hurry which cannot be prevented. Valuable horses with weak feet should not be submitted to any such risk. They should be shod with removable sharps. The mere fact of removing a horse's shoes perhaps five or six times in a month must injure the hoof. Add to this the shortening of the shoe, the raising of the heel by the roughing, and the irregular bearing due to hurried fitting and we have conditions which only the very strongest feet can endure without serious injury.

For heavy draught horses, and for all where the roads are hilly, the toes as well as the heels must be 'sharped' when ice and snow are firm on the surface. Fig. 67 shows this arrangement at the toe. The removable steel "sharps," of which I have spoken, are certainly the least objectionable method of providing foot-hold in winter. They are made in various sizes to suit all kinds of shoes. They vary in shape somewhat, but their form is more a matter of fancy than utility. One in each heel of a shoe is the usual number used but if snow and ice are plentiful and the roads hilly two additional "sharps" may be placed at the toe of the shoe.

At the time of fitting the shoes, holes are made by first punching a round hole through the heels--and through the toe if desired--then the hole is 'tapped' and a thread formed to fit it in the shank of the sharp which is to fill it. If the sharps are not immediately wanted the holes may be filled with corks to keep out the grit and dirt. When corks are used the wear of the shoe causes a burr to form round the edge of the hole, and before the sharp can be screwed in a "tap" must be worked into each hole to clear the thread. One great objection to this method is that as the shoe wears it becomes thinner, and if much worn the shank of the "sharp" may be too long, and when screwed home cause pressure upon the hoof and consequent lameness. To guard against this steel "blanks" are used to preserve the holes, and when a frost comes they are removed and the "sharps" put in.

The blanks vary in height and of course those least in height are best for the horse's action, but they must not be allowed to get so worn that it is impossible to remove them. These blanks are shown below.

The "tapping" and "screwing" of shoes is expensive, and in small shops must be done by hand. In large shops a gas engine and a machine would reduce the cost very greatly, and if the system came into general use this method of providing against frost-bound roads could be carried out at much less cost than now. With a view to economy and simplicity a sharp has been invented which requires no screw. The shank may be either round or square. A hole is punched in the heel of the shoe and carefully gauged to the size of the shank of the "sharp." The sharp is then put in and a tap of the hammer secures it. The difficulty is to get the hole in the shoe and the shank of the sharp of corresponding form and size. When this is done the sharp keeps its place and is not difficult to remove. Too often, however, they are not uniform, and then the sharp falls out or sometimes cannot be removed. When the holes are drilled instead of punched the fit is more exact, but this only applies to those with a round shank. A slight taper is given both to the hole and the shank of the "sharp." As with the screw sharps so with these, blanks are used to keep the holes open until the road-surface requires the sharp.

No sharps should be left in shoes when the horses are stabled at night, as serious injuries to the coronet may result from a tread by the opposite foot. The coachman or horse-keeper must be supplied with a spanner to remove the screws, and with a tap to clear the holes if blanks are not used.

For roads not badly covered with snow and ice, sufficient security is afforded by some forms of india-rubber pads, which will be described in a future chapter.

INJURIES FROM SHOEING.

Even with the most careful farrier injury may occur during shoeing, or may arise as the result of the operation. Sometimes the foot, from its condition or form, renders an accident possible, and it may be so diseased, or defective, as to render shoeing with safety very improbable. Sometimes the shoe is to blame, and sometimes the nail or clip. A few words about each of the common injuries may be useful as helps to their avoidance or as guides to their remedying.

Any neglect in these cases, such as working the horse after lameness has appeared, or delay in removing the offending nail, may lead to very serious changes in the foot, or even to death of the horse.

Another injury caused by nails is from a direct puncture of the sensitive foot. This may be slight, as in cases where the farrier in driving the nail misdirects it and so stabs the sensitive parts, but immediately withdraws the nail knowing what has happened. The lameness resulting from this is usually slight. Very much more serious is the lameness resulting from a nail which pierces the sensitive foot and is not recognised at once by the farrier. As a rule, lameness is immediate, and should the horse perform a journey before the nail is removed, serious damage is certain to follow.

Want of skill in driving a nail is not always the chief cause of "binding" or "pricking" a horse. More often than not the form and position of the nail-holes is the primary cause, for if the nail-holes in the shoe are too "coarse" or badly pitched it is quite impossible to safely drive nails through them. Sometimes the nails are defective, and this was much more common when nails were all hand-made. Bad iron or bad workmanship led to nails splitting within the hoof, and whilst one half came out through the wall the other portion turned in and penetrated the sensitive foot causing a most dangerous injury. The best brands of machine-made nails, now generally used, are remarkably free from this defect.

It is a common custom to rasp away the horn of the wall immediately beneath any injury of the coronet, but it is a useless proceeding which weakens the hoof and does no good to the inflamed tissues above or beneath.

Treads are most common in horses shod with heavy shoes and high calkins--a fact which suggests that a low square calkin and a shoe fitted not too wide at the heels is a possible preventive.

"Cutting" or "Brushing."

These shoes are fitted not only close to the inner border of the wall but within it, and the horn at the toe is then rasped off level with the shoe. Whether they are of any use is a question, but there is no question of the harm they do to the foot. Some farriers are partial to a three-quarter-shoe--one from which a couple of inches of the inside heel has been removed. Some thicken the outside toe, some the inside toe. Some raise one heel, some the other, and some profess to have a principle of fitting the shoe based upon the formation of the horse's limb and the peculiarity of his action. If in practice success attended these methods I should advise their adoption, but my experience is that numerous farriers obtain a special name for shoeing horses that "cut," when their methods, applied to quite similar cases, are as antagonistic as the poles. A light shoe without calkins has at any rate negative properties--it will not assist the horse to injure himself. For all the other forms and shapes I have a profound contempt, but as people will have changes, and as the most marked departure from the ordinary seems to give the greatest satisfaction, it is perhaps "good business" to supply what is appreciated.

The two great cures for "cutting" are--regular work and good old beans. When a man drives a horse forty miles in a day at a fast pace he, of course, blames the farrier for all damage to the fetlocks. He is merely illogical.

Over-reaching.

This is an injury to the heel--generally the inner--of a front foot. The heel is struck by the inner border of the toe of the hind shoe. Over-reach occurs at a gallop in this country, but is seen in America as the result of a mis-step in the fast trotters. An over-reach can only occur when the fore foot is raised from the ground and the hind foot reaches right into the hollow of the fore foot. When the fore and hind feet in this position separate the inner border of the toe of the hind shoe catches the heel of the fore foot and cuts off a slice. This cut portion often hangs as a flap, and when it does the attachment is always at the back, showing that the injury was not from behind forwards as it would be if caused by a direct blow, but from before backwards--in other words by a dragging action of the hind foot as it leaves the front one. An over-reach then may result either from the fore limb being insufficiently extended, or from the hind limb being over extended.

The prevention of this injury is effected by rounding off the inside edge of the hind shoe as shown below.

Speedy-cut.

This is an injury inflicted on the inner surface of the lower part of the knee joint by a blow from the toe of the shoe of the opposite foot. It occurs at a trot, and very seldom except when a horse is tired or over-paced. A horse that has once "speedy-cut" is apt to do so again and it may cause him to fall. Such horses should be shod "close" on the inside, and care should be taken that the heels of the foot which strikes should be kept low. In some cases a three-quarter shoe on the offending foot prevents injury.

"Forging" or "Clacking."

This is not an injury but an annoyance. It is the noise made by the striking of the hind shoe against the front as the horse is trotting. Horses "forge" when young and green, when out of condition or tired. As a rule, a horse that makes this noise is a slovenly goer, and will cease to annoy when he gets strength and goes up to his bit. Shoeing makes a difference, and in some cases at once stops it. The part of the front shoe struck is the inner border round the toe. . The part of the hind shoe that strikes is the outer border at the inside and outside toe. .

To alter the fore shoe, round off the inner border; or use a shoe with no inner border such as the concave hunting shoe To alter the toe of the hind shoe is useless, but by using a level shoe without calkins some advantage is gained. A so-called "diamond-toed" shoe has been recommended. It is not advisable as it does no good except by causing its point to strike the sole of the front foot. If by such a dodge the sound is got rid of it is only by running the risk of injuring the foot.

SHOEING BAD FEET.

Any average farrier can shoe without immediate harm a good well-formed foot that has a thick covering of horn, but when the horn is deficient in quantity or quality injury soon takes place if a badly fitted shoe be applied. There are feet which from disease or accident or bad shoeing have become, more or less, permanently damaged. Some are seriously altered in shape. Some are protected only by an unhealthy horn, and some show definite changes which cause weakness at a special part. These are the feet which really test the art of the farrier, for he must know just what to do and what not to do, and must possess the skill to practice what he knows.

In even the worst of these deformed feet some good sound horn is to be found at the heels, where an inch or sometimes two can be utilised for level bearing. No matter how much seating is required at the toe and quarters, the heel of the shoe may always be made level.

It cannot be too strongly urged that in the preparation of feet with bulging soles no horn is to be removed from the sole. The toe is to be shortened, the heels lowered proportionately, and the bearing-surface of the wall made level with a rasp. At no place must the shoe rest on the sole. In nearly every case the toe is left too long and the bearing taken upon it by the shoe only increases the deformity. In many feet a large slice might be sawn off the toe with advantage, as the sensitive foot is separated from the wall by a mass of diseased horn which presses the wall at the toe forward. .

In shoeing for this defect there are two things to avoid, not to place any direct pressure on the part; not to fit a shoe which will tend to force the crack open. Following these lines it is well not to put a clip exactly over a crack. If at the toe place a clip each side of the crack, and never use calkins or high heels which throw the weight forward. If at the quarter avoid a spring-heeled shoe which permits the downward movement of the foot behind the crack and so forces it open. In all cases, after fitting the shoe level to the foot, remove a little more horn just below the crack so as to relieve the direct bearing on the part. .

In the case of crack extending the whole space of the wall some provision should always be made to keep it from opening, because every step of the horse, especially when drawing a load, causes an outward pressure at the coronet. This pressure forces the hoof apart and the injury caused does not cease with the pain and lameness which follow, and which may be temporary. Doubtless the original cause of a sandcrack is some morbid condition of the coronary band--the band from which the wall grows. The sensitive laminae are at first not affected further than by the inflammation consequent upon the direct tearing which occurs when the crack takes place. The continued irritation, kept up by a persistent fissure in the horn covering the laminae, soon causes other serious changes which tend to make the sandcrack a permanent disease. Thus even the smallest crack should be attended to and measures adopted to prevent its enlargement or, when extensive, to limit all opening and shutting movement of the hoof.

This is sometimes attempted by a simple leather strap tightly applied, or by binding the foot with string or tape. Tape is less liable to slip than string. When the hoof is sufficiently thick two nails may be driven in opposite directions transversely through the crack and clinched; or French sandcrack-clips may be used which are easily applied. The instruments necessary are shown below . The iron is made red-hot and pressed on the hoof over the crack so as to burn a groove each side of it. Into these grooves the clip is put and the pincers are then used to compress the clip firmly into its place. There is a strain upon the clips, and sometimes one breaks. It is therefore necessary always to use two, and for an extensive crack three may be employed.

All these appliances tend to keep the lips of the crack from separating, but they do not prevent the edges of a deep wide crack from being forced together and thus pinching the sensitive parts. To provide against this injury a slip of hard wood may be fitted into the crack, and then the nails or clips may be more safely drawn tight without fear of injury, and with a better chance of preventing any movement in the edges of the crack. To insert the wood, the crack is converted into a groove nearly as deep as the wall, about three-eights of an inch wide, with straight sides, or better still, with a little greater width at the bottom than at the surface. Into such a groove a piece of wood formed to fit it is gently driven from below and rasped off to fit exactly. Or, softened gutta-percha may be pressed firmly into the space and levelled off when cold.

To "cut out" a sandcrack except for the purpose of refilling it is bad practice as it favours movement and helps to make the defect permanent. To rasp away the horn so that only a thin layer is left is also injurious. No horn should be removed except for the fitting of a plug as above described or, under veterinary direction, for the purpose of giving vent to matter which has formed within the hoof.

When the crack is in the quarters of the foot, it is not the tendency to expansion of the hoof that has to be guarded against. It is the downward motion of the heels that forces open a crack in this position. The farrier provides against this by taking care to have a firm bearing of the shoe on the hoof behind the crack as shown in A figure 82.

Many shoes have been invented for forcing open the heels of contracted feet. Some have had a hinge at the toe and a movable screw at the heel. Some have had the bearing-surface at the heels made with a slope outwards, so that the weight of the horse should constantly tend to force the heels apart. There is no necessity for any of these contrivances. A properly fitted tip will permit the hoof gradually to expand to its healthy size and form.

LEATHER AND RUBBER PADS.

In the days when farriers were driven by theoretical teachers to pare out the soles and otherwise rob the foot of its natural covering of horn, artificial protection had frequently to be given to the foot. A horse with a thin sole could not travel over rough roads, on which sharp loose stones were plentiful, without great risk of injury; consequently in those times plates of leather were often used to protect the foot. When a horse went "a little short" his owner not unnaturally concluded that he had bruised his foot and that the protection of a leather sole would be beneficial. In many cases the defective action was due to other cause than bruising, but still the leather was adopted, and it soon became an accepted theory that leather soles modified concussion and protected the foot from jar. This is more than doubtful, and I hold a very firm opinion that a plate of leather between the shoe and the foot has no such effect, whilst it interferes with the exactness of fit of the shoe. "Leathers" are useful on weak feet to protect a thin or defective sole from injury. When the under surface of a foot has been bruised, cut through, or when it is diseased, leather offers a useful protection, but when the sole is firm and sound it is quite unnecessary.

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