THE SHOEING OF OUR HORSES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1036, 27 January 1911, Page 8

THE SHOEING OF OUR HORSES.

A'MATTER OF VITAL IMPORTANCE. There.are. about 380,000 horses in the Dominion, and it is certain that a. big percentage of thorn. are faultily shod. .The ; attention of farmers and horseowners in general'must have been attracted to tho subject.through the action of the Manawatu A. and P. Association holding'a competition for shoeing smiths at", its last summer show'. -'In'"the competition at the Manawatu Show the horses' brought along to bo shod ware hackney's, arid the competitors were required to tako'off .a. fore and. a. hilid shoe,'prepare'the feet, forgo and ht a plan,"biack", shoe (the use of vice and fi'o'was prohibited), nail on tho shoe,.and finish off; Qualify of.work was.to count, but if-two.cbmnbtitors did work of equal quality, time was to be. considered. I) nfortunhtely some of tho competitors appeared to think that time'eaunte'd in either case. In the eourfo of a very interesting and valuable article on horse-shoeing, Mr. Clayton, who, with Mr. A. E'. Young, M.K.C.V.S., judge the competitors' work, deals' with matters which came under his notice during tho competition. The article ' nppeavs in tho latest number of the "Journal of the Department of Agriculture." ' ' Removing. x "In removing a shoe" (says Mr. Clay-lon).'-'"every "clinch should bo carefully raised;.the pincers'.should then raise first thb'.insidri heel"and tho outer one, then the inner and outer quarters; tho shoe 6hnuld then-be knocked'back with, the pincers,'and ea'ch'nail drawn separately, pulling' the nail towards-, the operator. If. this separate drawing is not observed, there is danger in-the. case of brittle feet of breaking away a large piece or the wall.".At' l'almerstou every, one of tho eleven ■ competitors pulled his shoes off without' doing this, most of them twisting the' shoe about in all directions until it was ripped off, putting oiie in mind,ofremoving a box-lid which had been fastened with wire-nails. .As mc-st 1 .of tho. men seemed to be • under the -impression that speed' was the great object in tho. competition, they probably did this * to 6ave as much time as/possible."

Preparing the Foot. . , The preparation of the ; foot,'very important and requiring skill, and judgment, is dealt with by Mr.' Clayton as follows:—"In largo forges in towns this work is "generally done by one tnan, who is ■ termed a 'doorman' (or 'floorman'),who also removes the' shoe and nails ou, . the making and fitting being done by another man styled a 'fireman.' In small for'ges, however, the whole of : the work is done by. one man. It is'pretty'safe to assert that, in this country at least, horses arriving to be shod have feet which require' considerable attention before a shoe can be properly fitted. Tho feet are generally overgrown, and in many cases- the crust is broken and worn through losing a shoe; many owners seeming'to be under-the impression that a horse does not need new shoes until the old ones are coming off. It must be bornoin mind that the loot is constantly growing and changing its form, and it is necessary for the smith to know what the proper form should be. There is iuoro growth at the.toe than at the.heels, con--fiequeritly more horn should' be removed' from the former part, so" as to obtain, aj level bearing-surface for the shoe. If the heels are 'left' too'-'high, the b'earing-su'r-. face from heel-'to too is shortened, more weight is thrown upon the front of the, foot, tho slope of tho foot being made less; while if tho heels are lowered, too much the opposite condition obtains, both the slope of the foot, and'the. length of the bearing-surface 'are more: weight being thrown oil tho bind parts of the foot. V Both these conditions interfere with the proper relation of the foot to the limb., When looked at from the front a properly-prepared foot should 6how both inside and outside wall-s'cf an even height; The height of the heel and toe should be in proportion when viewed tideways, and the., frog, touching the ground when seen from behind. Preparation of the foot should "always' bo done with the rasp, the knife being rarely needed. The sole should not bo' pared out,' and the'frog, if healthy, should lie left alone, only loose ragged portions being removed. The bars should on no account be'touched—they form buttresses, and are necessary to prevent contraction. There' is no' necessity, either, to pare out the sole at the- angle of tho bars and wall—the seat, of .'corn.' When the .wall is proportionately reduced, the tearingsurface,- consisting of the wall and the flat portion' of the sole, should be made perfectly level with the raspi and the sharp' edge of the wall rounded or blunted to prevent splitting. The men nt Palmersto'n did' very fair preparations; one or two of them, however,. using the knife too. much."' ■ ■

Finishing Off; - Having got thus far, Mr. Clayton has ' covered the most important ground iii his subject, but there remains to be said several things which farmers will do well to note, for they' are things which are in the majority of cases done to farmers' horses. Writing of hailing on, Mr. Clayton'says that the'under surface "of the clinch may, be gently rasped,'so as to enable, it- to bo turned down' more readily, but on no' account should it be filed so.-'.as'-'tp weaken/ it ,to such an extent that it is merely a film. "This" (he proceeds) !'is -what most, of the Palraers.ton men did,- the rasp being used far top "much on- tho faco. of the wall. As a result it is doubtful if some of the shoes would' keep on the foot'for.a week. If Holes are' not punched so that the head of the nail'fits properly, and if the points are not, properly clinched, the. shoe cannot "remain on tho foot for long." It will surprise'a good many to hear that, tho common practics of oiling and applying Stockholm tar to tho font ought to be' done away- will',. "Kasping the front of .the foot" (Mr. Clayton writes) "is injurious, and should . not be practised,' even below, tho nail-holes, the foot looh'n" much- better in its natural smooth state than when scored all over with- ,raspacratches."