THE PRESERVATION OF HORSES’ FEET FOR FAST WORK.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2024, 19 August 1880, Page 4

THE PRESERVATION OF HORSES’ FEET FOR FAST WORK.

JFrom the “ North British Agriculturist.”] Rational shoeing is one ohief means of keeping horses sonnet on their legs and feet. Their shoes should be plain and carefully fitted, so that the 'weight is equally distributed. Upturned heels and toe-tips are evils which should be reduced to the smallest possible dimensions, and are generally more •bused in Scotland than in England. The •hoes should be removed before they a-e worn down or displaced, which will occur within throe weeks in hard-worked horses much used on the roads. To preserve the foot sonnd and serviceable, the drawing knife and rasp should be used much less frequently and freely than they ore. The sole needs no paring, excepting on the narrow surface which has been protected by the shoe. Still less should the bars and heels be cut down, as they often are, fatally weakening the foot. Nor on any pretence should the frog be ruthlessly cut or trimmed. No knife should, on any pretext, ever touch it. The rasping of the crust, which most blacksmiths give as the finishing polish to their job, is also inadmissable. It removes the external oily protecting covering, makes the hoof dry and brittle, and, as it grows down, renders it less stout and tough for the firm bolding of the nails. These protecting surfaces are all needed to preserve the more delicate internal parts of the foot from bruising, injury, and jar. Their removal, although common, is irrational and injurious. If left alone) the superfluous scales of the walls of the hoof of the sole and frog gradually shell off in much the same manner os the scurf from the human skin. Their removal is, however, insisted upon by ignorant prejudice and fashion ; whilst to make good the loss, artificial substitutes are applied. The smartly rasped hoof is smeared with beeswax and oil ; the thinned sole has to bo protected with leather or felt pads ; and, the natural growth having been removed, a fresh crop of horn is attempted to be stimulated by clay and salt, or other applioations. The soft elastic frog, excised and shrank, becomes dry and diseased, and deprived of its proper use for supporting weight and preventing slipping. .Feet properly managed as to shoeing need no stopping. Cold water and a brush is the dressing they require. Exposure to the air, and an occasional washing, will secure the healthy growth of sound, tough horn better than any stopping; but the horn thus grown must not be allowed to be mercilessly cut away every time the unfortunate animal enters the forge. Horse-owners, if they are to preserve their horses’ feet strong and sound, should themselves see that the shoeing smith does not pursue his destructive removal of the external protecting textures of the foot. Very important also in maintaining horses np to the mark for fast work is their liberal feeding. This is well understood by most jobmasters and cab proprietors, the more sensible of whom give their bard-worked horses 3£ to 4 bushels of oats per week, with about 561 b of bay and 181 b of straw cut into chaff. This is a daily allowance of about 251 b of oats and 101 bof fodder. A bunoh of vetches, or other green food, is sometimes at this season out amongst the dry fodder. Without such liberal allowance it is impossible to keep horses satisfactorily at full work.