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 32 X 
 
HOJISE-SHOEING. 
 
 I 
 
 AS IT fs dom; 
 
 ^ISl) .'IS IT OUa IIT TO BE. 
 
 A Livrrnii /^ Dj^.iiv.N.sF.r to Tvri:; 
 
 ;^t<ii&<nt .^ ;;j^^<m()<r$ ^f <^c (^t. g^clin gf .jricnfttuaf ■^i^c'dd^ 
 
 xrx'.X'jo: i\T.A'.)r.^3P.s Aiairari XT.j.Trs'.)C'.Y.iA7/xe.TH. 
 
 IJV I. A. cniiNG, y. s.. 
 
 ^f..wi,r <i/- th Hond Collrffc nf fctpnaarj .S'./r-oort,. of Kdin!,vri.^h S,- l.or'nn 
 
 hMhM Ry flrdrr of the Roari 
 
 FRr.DERICTON, N. B.: 
 
 ^SmrfD B\ TAMF.S UOCKi, KIIPOKTRU OVri f. 
 
 18 5 4. 
 
tr 
 
 al 
 re 
 
 «( 
 
 111 
 
 P' 
 of 
 
 S( 
 
 Mi 
 
 in 
 
 ^i 
 
 Wi 
 
 .ar 
 D 
 
 tV( 
 ini 
 
 «ti 
 
 ho 
 
 fir 
 
 jlig 
 as 
 -ad 
 of, 
 an 
 
HORSE-SHOEING, 
 As it is, and as it ought to be. 
 
 UY ^l. A. CUMING, V. S. 
 
 Tu the President and members of the St. Jnlin AgricuUnral SocicUj, 
 
 Gentlemen, — In adiirossiiig you oi» tlic |)artioular point in ti)e 
 treatment cf your horses placed at tlio hond of this lotter, I may be 
 .allowed to guard myself against tlie imputation of ohtrusiveness by 
 referring to the following extract fri-m tho original. application of the 
 Society by which 1 was induced to.cometo this city and Provii<c«. 
 in writing to Professor Dick, of Edinburgh, to vecoinmond a com- 
 petent Veterinary Surgeon for St. John, the Corresponding Secretary 
 of your Society said :— " It is greatly desired by the members of the 
 Society that the Surgeon shoul.i have in connection with his estab- 
 .Ushment or under his charge, a Forge where horses could be shod 
 in a proper manner. At present wo are very badly off" in this rcs- 
 jject, there being but few smiths with whom a good horse can be 
 safely trusted." 
 
 This was written in the summer of 'ol, and my own dbservati^'ii 
 ^fier coming here in '52 fully bore out the truth of the statement. It 
 was not necessary to take off shoes or examine feet, or enter into 
 ,any other miuute kind of inspection to find out the evil. The lof»^' 
 Donkey like hoofs every where seen, and the number of horses lame 
 ■from corns, contractions, ringbones, spavins, sprained tendons and 
 interfering were snfiicient evidence that the Society had not in- 
 structed its Secretary to write as he did without abundant cau«j. 
 
 Such being the case there is need for little further proof, that thf 
 horses here are not generally shod as they .should be; nor, is it re- 
 quired that I should urge the benefit of a better system. The luhisv. 
 " no foot no horse" is equally applicable here as wh^re it wjx 
 first used. In this country where horses are hard driven, and tno 
 slight generally for their work, it is of the greatest importar.ce thyt 
 
 at est 
 icni 
 
 as few defects should exist in the plan of shooing tlicni, and as mariv 
 -advantages be combined as tha state of the shoeing art win adoKt 
 of, and it is to further this desirable end that the foil 
 
 lowuiir rcniarlv.s 
 
 are meant. In writing my ideas therefore on hnr.«<'-shoeing, I t,avu; 
 
/.o w..f. that thoy should be looked upon a« a comnU-te or foru^ai 
 rcat.e on the subject. So n.any of .hL. u.ro.dy I::^" ' "e^^^if 
 
 nqmnn. reader all the .nformation that book^ can give. Aly ob- 
 ject .s 0. a less pretending but moro practical character u.Lt 
 - po.nt ont th. errors n,ost co,n.nonlv iajlon into ^ l'^ 
 
 do.o a.uong ourselves, the efiects of these errors, and thei .' e^^ 
 .e. .rr : ve I'Th r T:'' -^-of „,yone accu.to.ned^ 
 
 CO. H the preposterous length of th« toes, «o strange indeed did 
 
 «. «ho foot could be the same as those I had been «.«! to see else- 
 where, or . nature had n.t in n freak n,ado then, difibrent he.t 
 
 b .yhown .nc that th.s .s not the case, that nature forms the ferf 
 
 01 .urses hero the sa.no as every where cise. and that the absurd 
 
 an I, uuer. lud.croas lorms ^ve see them fashioned into is onlv the 
 
 wo:,: o the sboe.n,. smith. When the foot is unshod and the horse 
 
 |u Uoerty, the growth of the hoof is barely sufficient to provide for 
 
 the constant wear and tea.- of the solo and toe; and consequently 
 
 no i.art .s eUi.er wanting oy superabundant. But when the Horse k 
 
 put to work on ha^d roads, and to stand in dry stables, the foot b«- 
 
 .o.nes mado^iuate to the wear, and to save it we put an iron sho« 
 
 on. rh.s shoo prevents the wear without checking the growth of 
 
 thn hool. and ,0 compensate for this, every ti.ne the shoe'^^s oft" the 
 
 -ant should be brought as near as possible to the form and size that 
 
 nature gave it In the unshod colt the greatest diameter of the 
 
 hoof .s across the sole. This is cspeciHly the case in the fore foot, 
 
 and I contributes materially to the usefulness of the animal that ,t 
 
 .?iiouId contmue so through life. 
 
 -njc function of the i^re leg is mainly that of supporting the' 
 .cght of the body, head and neck, and of transferring that wtight 
 lorward from pon.t to point .t the time the animal is in motion, fu 
 
 • ^»ne a that ol a spoke in « carriage wheel. It is in fact a lever, 
 HMV^.ch, to g.vc .ncreased speed, the power acts at a disadvantage, 
 t.e lul«rum or hxed po.nt being at the long end of tl,e lever, whil. 
 .he yow,r a,:d weight are near each other at the short. This lono- 
 
 T:1 ":"T^5':? ^T••^^^'^° '*^^^^- the elbo.v to tho ,roun.: 
 
 which 
 
 Jence any addition made to the Icn-nh of the 
 
 body is raised, au(r 
 
 i 
 
 I' 
 
 ifct upon tho horse as the pincinjr ti 
 
 toe, has the same 
 le block before the wheel of a 
 
car,.i«^.e l.a, o. i,. U aC. against tl.o „u,.cular power of ,!«. 
 annnal „s used .„ .,.. raising unci c.n,vin, fcMvard of ilwltr 
 and It nddoii, of the wcwht nfh;- .• i , . weight, 
 
 v.;.n,„se .,r |,„,i,„ ,„o„. ,„„„ Uoi,n/.h„ U„ , ,' „ 7c 
 l>.si! a,, m,«l,„i,c„ „„_v „„o ,|,al l„„ ,l,o ,-.ve,.,„ .m!" r , 
 .sen, rev (lioreab,,,,! al l,„„| ,,,,,, ,,,J , '■ '"" ""-'■" 
 
 •ri,. rosislanc. i,, co„o»„t,a„.d ,„ ^/^ , ' I""'"' »'""' '>«l'- 
 
 i.%™..ho,,„„,,j„i,;,,„r;; J ; t":;. n:,:''':,''^""";''"' 
 
 the toe upon the <rroiM»l v i • ' ' '* "'*-' P"'"' of 
 
 ... pud, l„von.,go placed against ,],„ ani, ,. Tl^f ., ",' '" '""' " 
 
 Every on« huows what is incLint by « hors*. bein.r w 
 
 ;f- '---•• For u., in,i,.,„,„,, „,,;;„, :;,^:;,^,;';'":'^ - 
 
 I'ow this co-iJitiun i^ prod.iced I will .... i • ' "'"'**' 
 
 Ti.. hones oCtho ^bot and ^^J^Zu^'"] "" °* ''^ — " 
 dioularly abovo each o.hc • L'st! I ', '"'■'"'■'' ''"'""- ' 
 
 portion of the n„i,nu'.= wei!.;.oV' ''' "''*'^'-^''-^- ■•' con.sidorald. 
 thn hack of ,ho U '. and fo ' :L ' "" '"'' '"''""■^ """ ^^-'^ '^"-- 
 
 «tr«in the tendons"h= t , 'VT'"" "V'^^^'' '"^ '"^'^■^ ""' 
 
 hi-i hc^ru! un hill m ^ '"" " ^"''''' '" ''='•'"'' ^wH, ' 
 
 / , ' "'' '""• "*'^'« '-'•^°i"<"i i^i needed to sustain hims,.|f r. ■ ■ 
 standing oil (I lovel Tl.o ..„ . ' '^''''" ""nM.'lt th.-m , 
 
 level. l|,e reason is that the l.ones of ,1,,. .;.nf a„,f 
 
 hereliy placed rno 
 
 •^ tlirowa uj)oa t!ie tendons and muscl 
 M loit to hiinselftilwayi feeds with 
 
 '•c ohiiqnnly, and more of] 
 
 and tl 
 
 iii.l Wf i.r},t 
 
 iii.-i !i w<;;iried h 
 
 hi-s head down hill.: h 
 
 orse. 
 
 ul wo sdti 
 
lo thfi slope or the foot and pastern the some hy adding to tint 
 lenfTth of tlio hoof and shoe as \,y placing the horli-s hond°up hill, 
 and will, ginnter perrnanencv of ellects as wo leave him nu power 
 to relieve himself. (Iften the two conditions are conjoined, the 
 toes are iinpcrionsly long and the horse is confined nine-tenths of 
 his time in a sloping stall. Here ,the muscular exertion of sustain- 
 ing his wci-ht soon becomes irksome, he sliifls from one foot to 
 another hut finds it only a temporary relief. The muscles con- 
 nected with the tendons that pass .down the back part of the leg to 
 the foot soon begin to relax till the weight falls on the ligamentou« 
 straps boUind and below the knee. Then the bones of the pasteri* 
 and foot become still more sloping, and to sustain his body pcrpei^- 
 KJicularly above his feet, and still more to relax the muscles, the 
 knee bulges out in front to a line with thr- projecting toe. This at 
 tirst occurs only now and then, when the horse is wearied and 
 forgetful, his postures becoming natural and proper when roused 
 up. My-and-by however it becomes a habit, and 'the causes being 
 permanent and constant in tlieir action the effectH soon become the 
 same, and we have for life the horse " sprung in the knees." 
 
 Many a valuable horse, tottering on the brink of this condition 
 lias been saved and brought back to usefulness by havmg his feet 
 |iut in a proper shape, and a run at grass, or a loose box'to stand 
 «n allowed him, while others on whom the torture of long toes and 
 -•doping stalls was persevered with have become pei»ma«ently 
 useless. 
 
 Another evil, resulting from the length at which the toes are com- 
 <nonly left, is int«rf«ring. The horse, finding the long projection 
 in front of las foot as so much leverage acting to his disadvantage, 
 gradually gets into a habit of shifting it, by raising himself frors 
 one or the otlur of the quarters. This is still more \ho case when, 
 in addition to the long toe left on the hoof, a small round knob of 
 steel is set into the point of the shoe, as if in contempt of all that 
 nature teaches. With these absurd contrivances placed between 
 hi.s weight and the ground that supports it, it is next to impossible 
 i;»r a horse to raise himself evenly upward and forward, and hence 
 the number that one way or another interfere. If in raising his 
 weight from the ground, the pressure be upon the inside quarter 
 ufthe foot, then the thick part of the pastern is thrown inward, in 
 the way of being struck by the upper edge of the hoof of the other 
 side, if t 
 the 
 
 he caut be the other way, and the outsidu quarter raise 
 night, the inside edge of the shoe is thrown round and 
 ,T'-ard, and runs t!»o riak of cutting with it the opposite leg. I] 
 
 up- 
 
 V«M 
 
#lien the horse from having a natnra'ly good gait psc.'i|)cs hofh 
 thcae eviiri, still he is not free from evils caused by this shape of 
 .shoe. 
 
 The fore foot of tho horse, »9 nature makes it, has no sucii pro- 
 jection in front and downward as that which the Smiths here give 
 it, but ratlier the reverse. The sole surface at the toe is conimoniy 
 broken olT and notched back ui the middle, so that the pressure, 
 when the foot strikes the ground or the animal is raising his weight 
 is distributed over the whole front of the foot. In accordance willi 
 this the coffin bone, which lilh the natural cavity of ihc hoof,, has 
 the same turned up and notched back form ; i» England, France, 
 and on the Continent of Europe generally, wherever Veterinary 
 Schools exist, and scientific attention is given to shooing, this na- 
 tural form of foot is more or less followed in the shape of the shoe, 
 and the animal has preserved to him, along with the protection 
 from wear which the shoo gives, the position of tread for which 
 nature ha« constructed the other mechanical arrangements of his 
 organs of motion. Why it is not so here is partialiy perhaps due 
 fo the buttris for cleaning out the foot when' it is shod, as it is im- 
 possible with this antiquated instrument to bring the hoof to the 
 proper shape in all its parts ; but it is more so to want of study on 
 the partof those who shoe, of the structure of the foot, its uses and 
 fhe relation existing between it and tae other motive organs, the 
 bones, tendons, and ligaments of tlie limbs. 
 
 Let me describe for an instant tiio way the horse is commonly shod' 
 here, the foot an inch longer at least (often more) in hoof than it 
 should be, and brought out to a point instead of being rounded back,.- 
 on this point is placed in nddition to the uimatural length of the shoe 
 a round button like knol j: steel with perhaps only a fourth part of 
 an inch of level bearing to rest upon the ground. When the ground 
 ie soft it is all wcllyas this projection penetrates till the flat of the shoo 
 «omes to b-ar the weight, and all the extra labour the horse has is 
 that of raising himself an inch or two more than Hb needs at everv 
 step, and' digging up an unnecessaiy quantity of gravel. But the 
 case differs when the horSo treads on anything impenetrable, as a 
 piece of stone or smooth hard rock. Then the difficulty of raising 
 his weight is added to that of balancing himself while doing so upon 
 the pivot by which the point of his toe is terminated. The horse not 
 he'mg furnished by nature with muscles of abduction and adduction 
 'n the fore limbs (that is muscles fordrawing the legs outward or' 
 inward from or to the body) has but little power of balancing himself 
 irom falling sideways. The instant he begins to raise his weight upon 
 
fhi 
 
 iirirmw l.v^o of Iosh tlinii Iml,' an inch on whidi tl 
 
 .•ropiicd hiin, tlip l.;iulc!n(-y is for him to toppl 
 I'll till' side or (luartcr of tlx 
 
 e smith lin<»* 
 
 I' ovor, which ho d 
 
 (>(\>» 
 
 vjroimd iind crives him fiirti 
 
 sli.K' cither oiilsido or iiisidc takes th 
 
 >er support. This hosvcv 
 
 ^/lthollt 11 emit or jork to all tiio joints of tlic ( 
 work of an instant and the h 
 
 <:.• is not don< 
 
 lout. 
 
 'I 
 
 i"uc, it is tlit 
 
 orsf! 
 
 (ore wo can almost soc it is done. Hut tlun ll 
 •Irod, it may bo n thousand times a dav, when ll 
 
 recovers himself, and goes on hr 
 
 '■•1' ilrv an( 
 
 1 ston 
 
 •same (jccnrs u hun- 
 ti(.' i(jad.s are rocky 
 y, (.-nnting, twisting and jerking the collin pasfcrii 
 rtnd fetlock joints at every stop, and yet, we daily meet with those who 
 iravely wonder how the ringbones, .swelled fetlocks, sprain.s, nn.l 
 :M..iv.ns, are all produced. The wonder rather is, considerin-r the im- 
 i'loprr and unnaturally shaped feet and shoes, that there "are an/- 
 sound. ' 
 
 Another of the 'crroi-.?ih shoeing which I' found current when I 
 rame here was the want 6f a tip or pr6jection turned up, on the poin, 
 of the shoe to for an abutment against the too of the hoof. It .scemod 
 to me that in respect of tiiis the smiths had turned the shoe wrong 
 side up, g.vmg a tip downwards where nature .iever designed it to be, 
 and denynig one upwards where it was essentially wanted. As from 
 the long toes so from this also the fore feet are the greatest suflerers. 
 I liavc already mentioned the function of the fore limbs to be mainlv 
 the support of the weight, and its transference forward from point to 
 point durmg the motion of the animal. In doing this a considerable 
 degree of concussion is inflicted upon the foot every time it striken 
 the ground. The direction of this concussion is neilher right down- 
 ward nor right forward, but between the two, partaking of the hori- 
 /ontal motion of the body of the animal along the roud, and of the 
 perpendicular direction of the descent of his wcig'it. 
 
 Everyone knows the additional power of rosislihg or sustaining 
 concussion and weight any (ibrous substance has if struck or pressed 
 m tliR direction of the fibres bjsidos if acted on in any other. The 
 hoof of the horse is compjsod of an infinite number of dense fibres, 
 strongly agglutinated together ; and to enable the foot with the greate^'t 
 advantage to meet and support the concussion there is when it^strikes 
 the ground, these fibres are every one of them so placed in the unshod' 
 loot as to receive the sliock directly on their end 
 
 tliis, the front part of the hoof whore the 1 
 greatest is twice or thrice as thick and str .„ __ 
 its slope indicating exactly the direction of tlTe de 
 ••eight. , 
 
 In addition to" 
 brce of the concusr>in it' 
 ■ong as the side and lieels, 
 cent of the horses 
 
[9J 
 
 Now all this thickening p.nd strcnRthoning and sloping at the too of 
 the fore foot is not without an obvious design, which is to enable it to 
 roceivo without injury tiie shock upon it when the horse is thrown 
 forcibly forward, as in leaping, galloping, or even hard trotting, os- 
 pecially if down iiill, and by turning up a tip on the shoe as an abut- 
 mont for the too to press against when it strikes the ground we make 
 both shoo and foot to aot together in harmony, we save the shoe from 
 being knocked off, and at the same time promote the natural action 
 of the foot. In shooing without this simple expedient, we frustrate 
 the design which nature evidently had in making the toe so strong, 
 and throw the concussion this strength was designed to meet upon • 
 the nail holds of the weaker parts of the foot, sides and heels. These 
 have not only to support the weight of iho shoe but also to bear the 
 force of the foot striking the ground ; and the shoe being found from 
 these two causes more inclined to come off than is wished, resource 
 is had to an extra amount of nailing, not only at the toes, where from 
 the thickness and want of spring in the hoof it is harmless but round 
 the quarters and even to the heels where by its pinching and fettering 
 effects it is productive of the worst of consequences ; corns, contrac , 
 tion and founder being its daily fruits. 
 
 No disease is more certainly a consequence of shoeing than corns, 
 and the number of horses lame from this heroisfal most beyond belief, 
 I have met with them in feet where they had caused lameness for 
 years and been shod over all the time without discovery. In such a 
 case we may blame the shacr for oversight but not for wilful mis- 
 doing; but what shall wo say when a corn is discovered, and to aome 
 relieved by the knife, and then the shoe refixed on the very plan by 
 which the evil was originally produced, yet such things happen not 
 once or twice, but daily. 
 
 Two causes mainly contribute to the production of corns; nailing 
 of the shoe too far back by its preventing the spring of the foot is one. 
 The other is unequal pressure of the shoe upon the sole and heels ; 
 when both are combined corns are next to inevitable. 
 
 A reason or at least a pretext for heel nailing I have already 
 noticed. The extent to which it is carried and the uniformity of its 
 occurrence show that those who produce it never entertain a doubt of 
 its propriety, nor a suspicion that the hoof of the horse is an elastic 
 and ofganiz^d structure contracting and expanding alternately at 
 every step and consequently in proportion to the extent to which it is 
 fixed and fettered. 
 
 The unequal pressure between the hoof and shoe which leads to^ 
 corns and other hurtful consequences may arise either from the shoe 
 
[10] 
 
 being improperly made or the foot insufficiently parerd out. It is rarer 
 that we meet with a shoe here on which an attempt has been made 
 to form a seat for the sole, more rare still that the attempt is success- 
 ful. The seat when tried to be made is commonly only a concaTC 
 from given to the entire surface of the shoe next the hoof instead of 
 extending only as far outward as the sole, and leaving a level rest for 
 the edge of the crust, such shoes should be called scooped rathei 
 than seated and are worse to make a horse go with, than even those 
 flat made. 
 
 But the cause of coma is often to be found in the way the foot is 
 prepared. I have already adverted to the buttris as being instru- 
 mental in the production of long toes. It is equally so in that of 
 cdrns. Of this no better proof is needed than the disappearance of 
 the one simultaneous with disuse of the other ; this has happened ge- 
 nerally in Britain within the last thirty or forty years, and particularly 
 in the practice of Reginiental shoeing. 
 
 Professor Coleman of the Veterinary College of London, writing' 
 in 1809 says : " There are very few horses that are not attacked with 
 corns. This is so common a disease that nine hundred horses out of 
 a thousand have it." Mr. Percival, Veterinary Surgeon to the First 
 Life Guards, in his work on lameness in horses published last year 
 says: "That faulty shoeing is the chief and predominant cause of 
 eoorns cannot anywhere receive more satisfactory demonstration than 
 in the Army. Corns and quittors and contracted feet were in former 
 days as rife in the Cavalry as in other places, whereas at the present 
 day these diseases are all but unknown to Veterinary Surgeons of 
 Regiments ; and all is owmg to an amended practice of shoeing." 
 
 My own experience, if it could add anything to the above is this : 
 during seven years practice immediately preceeding my coming liere 
 I did not meet with more than five or six casca of lameness from 
 corns ; and in a record of more than a thousand cases that I kept 
 during a part of the time, noting them in the order which I treated 
 them, there is only one of corns, and that a slight one. Since I came 
 here there are few days that I do not see horses lame from this cause, 
 although it can be but a fractional part of the evil that comes under 
 my ol-'?ervatio'.i. 
 
 In blamlncr the buttris for producing corns and other evils, a few 
 words of explanation is necessaiy. From the shape of this tool its- 
 tendency in cleaning out a foot with it, is to cut away both crust and 
 sole, bars heels and all to one level. In fact it is hardly possible 
 when using it to leave one part more predominant than another, en- 
 l^cially when it is the crust and bars that should be left and the sole 
 
 t 
 
[U] 
 
 internal agencies ,s by no means a stiff or rigid body, but springs 
 and expands at every step, and along with thfs expan ion the Z 
 d seen s and flattens out fro. the weigh, of the horse rest.ng on Z 
 
 fort lZ:7'% """;'' ^'^ '^"^"^ °^ ^'^ -'« be not 'allowed 
 for m fitung the shoe, either by a seat worked .„ the shoe itself, or 
 by cleaning out the sole to a lower level than the crust, then the ole 
 m us descent presses on the shoe, and the sensitive part inside is 
 squeezed between it and the coffin bone. As the heel s par of the 
 ^oun wh.ch expansion is greatest and the descent of the sole a^ 
 coffin bone ™ost, and as the angle between the bar and crust i. t^e 
 place from wh.ch the sole is with .eatest difficulty remov so it' 
 •n the heels that the bru.sing ana ..rn producing action of bad shl^ 
 .ng .s most to be met with. Yet I have seen on all part, of the si 
 round near the crust bruises caused by pressure of' the Jle dol„ 
 vards on the shoe. The way therefore in which the but^ a ds in' 
 he production of corns is from its unfitness for effectually r mov p" 
 tl^ more depressed parts of the unnecessaiy horny sole. T Je 
 h^nds of a person aware of how the foot should be dressed, and whb 
 w. 1 take the drawmg knife and rasp to give the sole, heel , and t5« 
 the proper form after doing the rougher part of the work with Z 
 bnttris. It IS aa efficient and useful tool, and so long as people aUow 
 
 ^oX 1 r 'T^ ^^ ^"" ''' ''' ™^"^^' «^ a'timaMoutZ^' 
 movmg the shoes, they can hardly expect it to be laid aside. I 
 
 abuse however ,f better understood would be easier guarded againrt 
 
 The common way in which I have seen feet prepared and shod 
 o^e" ;L f" t""' Tr' ^' '''' °'^ ^^- the'bu'ttris is broug^ 
 
 It „ n 7\ ''' '''"' ^'"'^ ^**^ ^'^««« '^^•"g -ft -d easily L 
 get a hberal sUciag, a scoop is then taken out of the sole on eaclfsil 
 
 extending nearly to the toe, and forming a uniform- concdve fromtte 
 
 2"t of the frog to the out edge of the crust, so that when, a scooped 
 
 shoe IS placed on it, ir^tead of the foot and shoe presenting two lev^l 
 
 surfaces to each other, they rest upon two thin edges, and even w^h 
 
 the level shoe it is the thin out edge only of the crusl that bel the 
 
 weight : this ...oojr.ng out of iho sides of the soles is all the implement 
 
 can^convenientiy effect. It is not handy for rounding or shortening 
 
 buck the too and so is seldom bid to do it, that part being.Ieft cntii 
 
 oxcept a little out of th« sole surface which rather adds^han other. 
 
 wise to Its projecting point ; neither is it available for cleanings out the 
 
 aole from the angles between the heels and bars, leaving these part. 
 
[12] 
 
 prominent to rest upon the shoe. All it can do here is to bring the 
 parts to a uniform level, and this being done with the foot off the 
 ground, the instant it is set down all the parts change their relative 
 positions, and if the sole was left equally full as the crust and bars 
 (parts designed to bear the horses weight,) it is now more so, and 
 a week or two's work and growth brings such a degree of pressure 
 on it as to bruise the sensitive sole underneath, rupturing some of the 
 minute blood-vessels with which it is studded, and showing the evil 
 that is done by the effusion of the blood through the pores of the horny 
 sole as in the condition called corn. 
 
 The foot being prepared in this way, the shoe is fitted (so far as it 
 gets any fitting) to its elongated and pointed form, and being turned 
 wrong side up so far as the shape of the toe goes, it is nailed as far 
 back towards the heels as nails can safely be driven, and the same 
 process being repeated time after time when the shoes are removed 
 we have the long contracted mule looking feet produced that we see 
 daily on our streets. 
 
 A system of shoeing free from these defects is just as easy to prac- 
 tice, equally cheap, and productive of far more satisfactory results. 
 The following is an outline of its most important points. 
 
 In making the shoes whether fore or hind, the elongated and 
 pointed shape should be studiously avoided, even when from previous 
 bad management the feet are contracted at the heels and flattened in 
 on the sides to an extent admitting of only a partial restoration to the 
 proper shape ; still the projecting point upon the toe can be dispensed 
 with, and a broad and solid bearing given in front. The fore shoes 
 if they have a concave seat should have a perfectly level bearing of 
 the breadth of the crust round the outside. The hind shoes do not 
 need seating as the hind feet have a greater concavity and less des- 
 cent of the sole than the fore. Both fore and hind shoes should have 
 a tip or projection turned up in front as a rest for the toe to bear 
 against in the descent of the foot, and an aid to the nails in keeping 
 it on. The web or body of the shoe stiould be of a uniform thick- 
 ness all around, and when heel caulks are worn they should be both 
 one length ; when only one caulking is worn the other heel of the 
 shoe should be thickened up to the same level. When toe caulks are 
 required either to give foot liold for heavy draught or for sharpening 
 in winter, they should extend as far laterally as the breadth of the 
 foot will admit, be as little prominent as may be to afford sufficient 
 hold, be of a uniform depth from end to end, so that all parts bear 
 equally on the ground, and have the bearing edge on the same level 
 as a line drawn between the points of the heel caulks. 
 
[13] 
 
 The fullering or grooving of the shoe is n useful device for secur- 
 ing the even punching of the nail holes and protecting the heads Of 
 the naih from wear. Beyond this I am not aware of any benefit 
 from it, and it certainly has the disadvantage of weakening the shoe 
 and facilitating its being worn down. In France, many parts of 
 Britain, and in all the English Cavalry Regiments, the nail holes are 
 simply punched and couriter-sunk without any groove or fuller and 
 have a nail suited to the size and form of the hole. The shoe made 
 thus has a greater solidity and durability, and I have little doubt will 
 ultimately be the form preferred. But whether fullered or not there 
 are one or two things about the punching of the nail holes not to be 
 overlooked. They should all be so punched that the nails may enter 
 the wall of the hoof on its inner edge. No nail hole should ever be 
 seen on the seating of the shoe, nor nail in any part of the edge o* 
 the sole. To do this properly requires some nicety as both the thick, 
 ness and slope of the crust alter as we proceed from the toe to the 
 heels, and it is one of the things much neglected in the making of 
 shoes here, there being but few in which you will see a well gra- 
 duated range of nail holes. A point worse managed however is the 
 placing of the nail holes properly as regards their distance from the 
 heels. No nail should ever be driven into the foot further back than 
 its broadest part. This is a rule of nature's indication and she will 
 not suffer its violation with impunity. Beliind the broadest part of 
 the hoof the spring and expansion is such that it cannot be fettered or 
 confined without harm ; yet we seldom see a shoe made here that has 
 not one or two nails into the forbidden ground, and often they arc 
 nailed to the very heels. 
 
 As an instance : a gentleman drore a horse from Fredericton to 
 1st. John last winter who had been shod the day before leaving. He 
 was two days on the way, and before reaching here was lame on all 
 four feet. On taking off the shoes no special cause of lameness was 
 found in any of the feet except the fettering effects of the nails ; but 
 these were driven to within half an inch of the heel caulks, so as to 
 destroy entirety the natural action of the foot. 
 
 In another case a gentleman's horse in Portland had been lame 
 from corns noboby knew how long, as the hoof was so over-grown 
 that the corns had never been discovered. In this case tho fore feet 
 admitted of being shortened back more than an inch, and a propor- 
 tional quantity taken off the sole ; and the nail holes of the old shoe 
 instead of extending only hilf round as they should have done, occu- 
 pied more than two-thiru - !.<! the circumference from the toe to thf 
 heels. 
 
[14] 
 
 A third instance may be mentioned. About a montli ago a gentle- 
 nian from Sussex brouglit a colt for me to see, being in the belief 
 Inmself that he was foundered as he was equally lame in both fore 
 feet. The most careful examination could detect no acute disease as 
 ^a cause for his lameness, but both fore shoes were nailed on with 
 ten nails each, five on each side, and back almost to the heels a& if 
 mtended not to need removal during the animal's natural life 
 
 Since this was begun to be written, the following case occurred in 
 town as if to impress more strongly the necessity of exposing the 
 ^system referred to. A dray horse was lame on a' fore foot ard was 
 taken to a forge and had a new shoe put on. Tiiree or four days 
 afterwards (the lameness in the mean time having increased) I was 
 called to see him. I found the cause of lameness to be a suppurated 
 ■corn in one of the heels, the inflamation from which had run so high 
 as to break out at the top of the hoof between the hair and bone. 
 The cause of the corn was equally obvious. The shoe had no too 
 tip to steady it on the foot, but instead had u large one turned up at 
 ■each heel, so as completely to fix the foot and make its lower part 
 rigid as if in a vice. On enquiry [ learned that a shoe, of ihe same 
 kind had been on before the recent shoeing, and had no tloubt pro- 
 <]uced the corn and lameness for which he was reshod; while the 
 more complete fixture of tho new shoe caused the inflamation and 
 suppuration I was called to treat. 
 
 These are not singular instances; similar ones are occurring almost 
 .every day, and anything approaching to a well made shoo is the o.v 
 ception rather than the rule in this country. 
 
 In the preparing of the foot for the shoe there is also as I hove 
 already noticerl, room for much amendment on the way it is practised 
 here. The buck parts of the hoof having less growth and more wear 
 on them than the fore, seldom require anything removed except it be 
 a little from tho outside heel. The frog should only be touched to 
 Temove any cut or ragged portions. The bars, those angular ridges 
 that be between the frog and heels should be left at their full strength, 
 and the sole between them and the wall of the heel thinned down so 
 far at least as to prevent the possibility of its descending on the shoe. 
 The sole at tho toe where it has the protection of the slioc should be 
 thinned out till it can be made to yield to the pressure of the thumb. 
 The crust should be shortened hack in fmnt. .5 notch taken out for 
 the reception of the upturned tip, and its whole lower surface where 
 it rests upon the shoe made plain and level. This is a most im- 
 portant point. Tlie weight of the shoe is supported by the aftaoh- 
 raent of the coffin bone to the inside wall o( the hoof. The lamina 
 
[15] 
 
 by which .Ik connection I, f„n„e.l permilting of a very porc.n.lblo 
 umoun of „o„o„ of .he par,,, U i, con,i„„„r „i,h .his'h',. hT " 
 
 in» 7 h„ "'', "^ '^°''"' °' "'""= "'"i f""'. "l'='-o <ho boar 
 
 ■ng of the one upon the other is hy the extreme out cd-es ihij, 
 wtdely departed from, and the effect, are »e„ in the hrol '?., I 
 an. contracted e.,ge, and heel, produced. wj„ I fo ^ ^ ''l' 
 Made w. hoot a seat as in ,he ca,e of having the side next the Z„„d 
 
 .evetWof'th'e"'": l"""", ""' """ "''''' "> "° «»'- "g ' 
 in the hands of those ;.,o shXrel,; wL"?"',"" °"°' "'■" 
 
 D^^;:-:^ ^'^:';:x^: ^^ ^'^-^ t dnvm. of the nans. 
 
 the holes should bo so ^a,' o ° Sr^ S"'' .f '"'^"^- ^^"'^ «^" 
 sensitive parts nor so nonr ,l T i ^ "'''" "^ *« Pi't'ss on the 
 
 »nd as a^mlti":; Sir ^nV' Xmln^ t' °:r-.\''- .''"ff 
 
 hoof, and wherever i° Safle"h?:"l'Z, ':,,""=, 7'°' '"" "' "'" 
 withacom|)iMitionofirreisv3,„L ''""''' ^° """'^i' <>»or 
 
 mind them Sn the s\me hlf '"^'k^ .'" ''"''' = ^'^'^^ «'•«' '« »« re- 
 one to improve it, he al.o siid hSr L% '"^'^, *''^ '^"^ •^^ «''"'<? 
 
 ■unfa sfcre of "pa ra|e°T„".V;t".^'f "\'L'''=^ '" °* "' ^ 
 members. *= support from the Society and it» 
 
Sf90-? CtS/tS^ t^5e^ 
 
 r 16,1 
 
 But beyond this my object is to improve the condition of the art 
 t^enerally in tht; Province, and, to do this, sundry means present 
 ihemsdves. The first I would mention is the publication by the So- 
 ciety (if they think proper) of this letter and illustrations. I am 
 utware that its statetnenis will be new to many, to some no doubt 
 displeasing. Those who shoe as I have described the cultivators of 
 lon}r tnes and perpatrators of heel nailing will not like it, but this 1; 
 cannot help, improvement must not keep back for them. If their 
 modes will bear defending let them defend them, if they will not, let 
 'hem give them up for better, and iither way the public and tiiotn* 
 helves will profit. < n'iiHj 
 
 A second means that suggests itself is the sending copies of this to 
 parties at a distance where opposition need not create prejudice, and 
 from which some of* those who practice the art may come and see for 
 themselves the advantage of plans better than their own, and learn 
 them. A third means is altogether in the hands of the public. It is 
 for those who care for the welfare of their horses, and like them to 
 have all the advantages of a good shoe well put on, to send thepj ; 
 though but once to have a trial and then to judge for themselves. 
 
 (jfcntlomen interested in improvement visiting St. John, though only 
 now and then, by having their horses feet at such times put in pi^er 
 shape aiid well made shoes put on ihem, might soon be the means of 
 spreading a better system than the present to quarters not otherwise 
 likely to be soon leached, other means might be named, any in fact 
 by which butter information could be spread, and more rational praiB- 
 tices introduced, and we might hope soon to see the long toes disap' 
 pear and with them the "sprung knees," "corny heels," "ring* 
 bones," " contractions," and other collateral evils. 
 
 In conclusion, Mr. President and Gentlemen of the St. John Agri- 
 cultural Society, it would ill become me to advertise my own claim» 
 to business by your means, whore you are not interested, and to be* 
 nefiit as well as me : your Corresponding Secretary, in his letter to 
 Professor Dick, to which I have already twice referred, says, " If you 
 have any friend for whom you wish to provide comfortably, here is a 
 favorable opportunity for now doing so." I have no wish, gentlemen,, 
 for such " provision" as is here indicated : all I ask is such a share of 
 employment in the calling which ycu sought me to coma here for and 
 practice, as may enable me to live by it. J^or do I ask this without 
 offering you, as I have endeavored to show, advantages in exchange, 
 which you can no where else obtain : but do not take this on my 
 word, look into the matter yourselves, observe the number of horses , 
 crippled in the different ways I have named, and, if fortunate in your 
 own having escaped, reflect tha^ it may not be always so, that be is 
 OS liable as othe»s to be the victim of a bad system. Ask if art and, 
 
 ..„:^-.«« .••hf>>-» tKooo Viavn mnat hf»r»n piiltivntftd. nnn Hn nnvtfiina to 
 
 remedy or prevent such wholesale mischief , and, if yoqfind that they j 
 
 <;atf,|^ve t^e|m at least a tmUaod do not be content to live fifty years, 
 
 ifohmi tl»e rest of ibe yirorld, evea ioi tlie treatment of your horses' feet.,| 
 
 \ j iJ^ntlemeO} I hav|e the honor to be, ,0 
 
 '..,,!•.„,., iW mopt obedie:nt servant, ,,, 
 
 ■ ''■'■'■"■ ^'^" , '^.'^^ • • M. A. CUMING, V.S. [^ 
 
 1 
 
 il