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diff --git a/22603-8.txt b/22603-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b31483 --- /dev/null +++ b/22603-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1327 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Rational Horse-Shoeing, by John E. Russell + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Rational Horse-Shoeing + + +Author: John E. Russell + + + +Release Date: September 14, 2007 [eBook #22603] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RATIONAL HORSE-SHOEING*** + + +E-text prepared by David Garcia, Tamise Totterdell, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) from +page images generously made available by Kentuckiana Digital Library +(http://kdl.kyvl.org/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 22603-h.htm or 22603-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/6/0/22603/22603-h/22603-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/6/0/22603/22603-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Kentuckiana Digital Library. See + http://kdl.kyvl.org/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=kyetexts;cc=kyetexts;xc=1&idno=B98-49-42334752&view=toc + + + + + +RATIONAL HORSE-SHOEING. + +by + +WILDAIR. + + + + + + + +PREFIX. + + +Since the publication of this little volume we have made changes in our +horse shoe with a view to adapt it especially to Army use. Our design +has been to make a shoe that any Army farrier can apply in a cold state +without the use of any other tool than a knife to prepare the hoof, and +a hammer to drive the nails. Our success in this attempt has been so +complete that we are now using the pattern designed especially for Army +use in all our contract work. + +The shoe is rolled without a heel calk, so that the frog-pressure may be +readily secured without heating and drawing the iron:--the nail holes +are punched so that the nail furnished by us with the shoe may be +driven, without the use of the pritchel to punch out the holes. The +shoe, being made of the best quality of iron, may be bent cold to adapt +it to the shape of the hoof. + +Officers will at once see what a vast saving there is in the +transportation of shoes--requiring no forge with its heavy outfit--and +which are less than half the weight of the clumsy old patterns. + + + + +[Illustration: THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH.] + + + + +RATIONAL HORSE-SHOEING. + +by + +WILDAIR. + +With Illustrations. + + + + + + +New York: +Published by Wynkoop and Hallenbeck, +No. 113 Fulton Street. +1873. + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by +Wynkoop & Hallenbeck, +in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +In presenting the observations contained in the following pages, we are +aware that we appeal to practical men who judge by results, and have but +slight patience with mere theory. We wish, therefore, to state clearly +at the outset, that the system of horse-shoeing herein advocated, and +the shoe offered by us to accompany it and accomplish its purpose, are +the result of years of patient study of nature, and actual experiment; +and that although we have had to contend with ignorance and interest on +the part of the farriers, and indifference and prejudice on the part of +owners of horses, we have finally succeeded in interesting the most +practical and capable men in America, England, and France in the +matter; and, at the time of this publication, thousands of horses, +engaged in the most arduous labors of equine life--upon railways, +express wagons, transfer companies, and other similar difficult +positions--are traveling upon our shoes, their labors lightened by its +assistance, their feet preserved in a natural, healthy state, and their +lives prolonged to the profit of their owners and the advancement of +that cause--one of the evidences of the progress of our age in true +enlightenment--which has for its beneficent object the prevention of +cruelty to the dumb and helpless companions of our toil. + + + + +GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. + + +The first application of the Goodenough shoe is almost invariably to the +feet of horses suffering from some one of the forms of foot disease, +induced by the unnatural method of shoeing. Our system is intended for +sound horses, to supply the necessary protection to the feet, and to +keep them in a healthy condition. Our rules for shoeing, embodied in our +circular of instructions, are applicable to sound horses, and disease +must be provided for as exceptional. + +Men are careless and, as a rule, unobservant; they go on in the old way +until the horse flinches in action or stands "pointing" in dumb appeal to +his owner, telling with mute but touching eloquence of his tight-ironed, +feverish foot, the dead frog, and the insidious disease, soon to destroy +the free action characteristic of health. It is when this evidence brings +the truth home to him that the neglectful master, eager to relieve the +animal, tries our system. To such masters we must say, do not expect that +the imprudence and neglect of years can be remedied in an instant. The age +of miracles long ago passed away. We do not propose to cure by formula, +or bell and book. There is no "laying on of hands"--no magical touch of an +enchanter's wand. + +Remember always that pain is the warning cry of a faithful sentinel on +the outpost, that disease is at hand. Disease is the punishment +following a violation of the laws of nature, and can only be escaped by +restoring natural conditions. + +Remember also, that "Nature," so called by Hippocrates, the earliest +systematic writer upon medicine, never slumbers nor fails in duty, but +strives with unerring, active intelligence to prevent disease, or to +cure it when it can not be prevented. + +When the measures and processes of the physician are in harmony with the +natural intention, disease may be cured; when they are adverse in +application, the patient dies, or recovers in spite of art. + +A great French philosopher powerfully remarked: "Nature fights with +disease a battle to the death; a blind man armed with a club--that is, a +physician--comes in to make peace between them. Failing in that, he lays +about him with his club. If he happens to hit disease he kills disease; +if he hits nature he kills nature." + +We wish to be understood that in all things we would assist and +facilitate the action of nature, under the artificial restraints of the +horse. If we fail in this, or offer obstruction, our occupation is gone. +The world has no time to listen to our theory, no use for our practice. +And we hope that the thoughtful readers of these pages will see in our +intention, an earnest, honest purpose and belief, and that, without +affectation of science or pretense of superior knowledge, we base all +our efforts upon nature and common sense. + +In following our instructions and attempting to use our method, _have +patience_, and note the result from day to day. The horse will quickly +tell you. His action will expose quackery and unmask pretension. He will +be no party to a fraud, no advocate of an advertisement. + + +SOUND HORSES. + +A sound horse is, after man, the paragon of animals. "In form and moving +how express and admirable!" His frame is perfect mechanism, instinct +with glowing life, and guarded by the great conservative and healing +powers of nature from disease and death. His vitality is surpassed by +that of man, because man has the endowment of soul, and in his human +breast hope springs eternal and imagination gives fresh powers of +resistance. Like man, the horse conforms cheerfully to all climates and +to all circumstances. He is equally at home-- + + "Whether where equinoctial fervors glow + Or winter wraps the polar world in snow." + +Amid the sands of Arabia his thin hide and fine hair evidence his +breeding; in the frozen north his shaggy covering defends him from the +cold storms and searching winds. The disadvantages under which he will +work are in no way so clearly illustrated as in his efficiency when +exposed to the evils of shoeing. Placed upon heel-calks, to slip about +and catch with wrenching force in the interstices of city pavements, or +loaded with iron-clogs, to give him "knee-action" and to "untie his +shoulders," he bravely faces his discomforts and does to the best of his +ability his master's will. + +How quickly his active system responds to intelligent care and shows its +beneficial results! And when relieved from the abuses of ignorance, his +recuperative powers re-establish the springing step of youth. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +EVILS OF COMMON SHOEING. + + +Every horseman finds his chief difficulty in the fact that he has to +protect the natural foot from the wear incident to the artificial +condition in which the horse is placed in his relation to man. In those +important industries where great numbers of horses are used, and the +profit of the business depends upon the efficiency of the animal, the +question becomes a very serious one, and the life term of the horse, or +the proportion of the number of animals that are kept from their tasks +by inability, make the difference between profit and loss to the great +transportation lines that facilitate the busy current of city life. But +notwithstanding the importance of this subject, upon the score equally +of economy and humanity, the world is, for the most part, just where it +was a thousand years ago, possibly worse off, for the original purpose +of shoeing was only to protect the foot from attrition or chipping, and +but little iron was used, but, as the utility of the operation became +apparent, the smith boldly took the responsibility of altering the form +of the hoof to suit his own unreasoning views, cutting away, as +superfluous, the sole and bars, paring the frog to a shapely smoothness, +and then nailing on a broad, heavy piece of iron, covering not only the +wall but a portion of the sole also, thus putting it out of the power of +the horse to take a natural, elastic step. + +In a short time the hoof, unbraced by the sole and bars, begins to +contract, the action of the frog upon the ground, which in the natural +foot is threefold--acting as a cushion to receive the force of the blow +and thus relieve the nerves and joints of the leg from concussion, +opening and expanding the hoof by its upward pressure, quickening the +circulation and thereby stimulating the natural secretions,--this all +important part of the organization, without which there is no foot and +no horse, becomes hard, dry, and useless. Then follows the whole train +of natural consequences. The delicate system of joints inclosed in the +hoof feel the pressure of contraction, the knees bend forward in an +attempt to relieve the contracted heel. In this action the use of the +leg is partially lost. The horse endeavors to secure a new bearing, +interferes in movement, or stands in uneasy torture. + +Nature frequently seeks relief by bursting the dry and contracted shell, +in what is known as quarter or toe crack, and the miserable victim +becomes practically useless at an age when his powers should be in their +prime. + +Every horseman will acknowledge that his experience has a parallel in +the picture here presented. Many men have at various times attempted +reform, but the difficulty heretofore encountered has been that the +mechanical application was in the hands, not of the owners and +reasoners, but in those of a class of men who are, for the most part, +ignorant, prejudiced, and, consequently, apt to oppose any innovation +upon the old abuses in which they have had centuries of vested right; +and it was not until the studies of Mr. R. A. Goodenough that there were +brought to bear veterinary knowledge, mechanical skill, and inventive +faculty, to overcome the stolidity and interest which have been the +lions in the way of true reform. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +FROG PRESSURE. + + +That portion of the hoof called the "frog," performs the most important +visible function in the economy of the movement of the horse. It is +intensely vital and vigorous. The greater its exposure and the severer +its exertion, the more strenuous is the action of nature to renew it. It +is the spring at the immediate base of the leg, relieving the nervous +system and joints from the shock of the concussion when the Race Horse +thunders over the course, seeming in his powerful stride to shake the +solid earth itself, and it gives the Trotter the elastic motion with +which he sweeps over the ground noiseless upon its yielding spring, but, +if shod with heavy iron, so that the frog does not reach the ground to +perform its function, his hoofs beat the earth with a force like the +hammers of the Cyclops. + +With the facility to error characteristic of the unreasoning, it has +been one of the opinions of grooms and farriers that this callous, +india-rubber-like substance would wear away upon exposure to the action +of the road or pavement, and it has been one of their cherished +practices to set the horse up upon iron, so that he could by no +possibility strike the frog upon the ground. + +In addition to this violation of nature, they pare away the exfoliating +growth of the organ, and trim it into the shape that suits their fancy. + +Without action, muscular life is impossible, the portion of the body +thus situated must die, paralyzed or withered. Motion, use, are the law +of life, and the frog of the horse's hoof with a function as essential +and well-defined as any portion of his body is subject to the general +law. Without use it dries, hardens, and becomes a shelly excrescence +upon a foot, benumbed by the percussion of heavy iron upon hard roads. +This is a loss nature struggles in vain to repair, the horse begins to +fail at once. The elastic step, which in a state of nature spurned the +dull earth, becomes heavy and stiff, and the unhappy brute experiences +the evils partially described in the previous chapter. + +To restore the natural action of the foot by putting the bearing on the +frog, is the chief object of the system we advocate, and the Goodenough +shoe is designed especially to provide for that first and last +necessity. If this is accomplished with a sound horse, he will avoid the +thousand ills that arise from the usual method, and, so far as his feet +are concerned, he will remain sound. + +If the shoe is adopted as a cure for the unsoundness already manifested +in animals that have been deprived of the proper use of their feet, it +will cure them, not by any virtue in the iron itself, nor by any magic +in its application, but simply by giving beneficent nature an +opportunity to repair the ruin that the ignorance of man has wrought +upon her perfect handiwork. + +This part of our subject is so important that we shall return to it +again in subsequent chapters, and enforce it at every point. + + + + +[Illustration: GOODENOUGH SHOE--FRONT.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +DESCRIPTION OF THE GOODENOUGH SHOE. + + +From the representation of the shoe in the cut, its peculiar +conformation will be observed, and the reason for these changes from the +common form we shall endeavor to explain as clearly as possible. In the +first place, it is very light, scarcely half the weight of the average +old-fashioned shoe. The foot surface is rolled with a true bevel, making +that portion of the web which receives the bearing of the hoof, the +width of the thickness of the wall or crust. This prevents pressure upon +the sole, and makes the shoe a continuation of the wall of the foot. The +ground surface of the shoe has also a true bevel, following the natural +slope of the sole, and bringing the inner part of the shoe to a thin +edge. The outer portion is thus a thick ridge, dentated, or cut out into +cogs or calks, allowing the nail-heads to be countersunk. This +arrangement gives five calks--a wide toe-calk, the usual heel-calks, +and two calks, one on each side, midway between the toe and heel--thus +putting the bearing equally upon all the parts of the foot. + +This calking has a double object. In the common system of shoeing, to +avoid slipping in winter upon the ice, and in the cities upon the wet, +slimy surface of pavement, or to assist draft, it is customary to weld a +calk upon the toe of a shoe, and to turn up the heels to correspond. In +this motion the horse is placed upon a tripod, his weight being entirely +upon three points of his foot, and those not the parts intended to bear +the shock of travel or to sustain his weight. The position of the frog +is of course one of hopeless inaction, and the motion of the unsupported +bones within the hoof produce inflammation at the points of extreme +pressure, so that, in case of all old horses accustomed to go upon +calks, there is ulceration of the heels, in the form of "corns," which +the smith informs the owner is the effect of _hard roads_ bruising the +heel from the outside; he usually "cuts out the corn," and puts on more +iron in the form of a "bar shoe." Or the same action which produces +corns, acting upon the dead, dry, unsupported frog and sole, breaks the +arch of the foot so that a "drop sole" is manifest, or "pumiced foot," +for both of which a "bar shoe" is the unvarying, pernicious +prescription. In the Goodenough shoe, the calks are supplied, and the +weight so distributed that the objection to the old method does not +exist. + + +COUNTERSINKING THE NAILS. + +This is a point to which we call attention as of great importance. In +shoeing a horse for light or rapid work with a common flat shoe, seven +or eight nail-heads protrude, and take the force of his blow on the +ground. The foot has just been pared, and those nails, driven into the +wall and pressing against the soft inside horn and sensitive laminæ, +vibrate to the quick, and often cause the newly-shod horse to shrink, +and show soreness in traveling for a day or two. No matter how +skillfully shod, the horse will be all the better in escaping this +unnecessary infliction. + + +THE BEVEL OF THE FOOT SURFACE + +Is to keep the shoe a continuation of the crust or wall of the hoof, and +to avoid percussion upon the sole. + + +THE BEVEL ON THE GROUND SURFACE + +Is to follow the natural concavity of the foot and to give it the form +which will have no suction on wet ground, will not pick up mud, or +retain snow-balls. + + +THE CALKS + +Have a use fully explained. + +When the shoe thus described is set so as to secure _frog-pressure_, as +hereinafter directed, a horse may be shod without violation of nature's +laws; foot disease, under fair conditions, will become almost +impossible, and the useless refuse-stock, broken down by the old method, +may be restored to usefulness. + + + + +[Illustration: GOODENOUGH SHOE--BACK.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +HOW TO SHOE SOUND FEET. + + +If a foot came to the farrier in a perfectly normal condition, never +having been subjected to the destructive process of common shoeing, the +directions for putting on the Goodenough shoe would be simply, to dress +the foot by paring or rasping the wall until a shoe of proper size laid +upon the prepared crust would give an even bearing with the frog all +over the foot; then, as the calk wore away, the pressure would come more +and more upon the frog and the foot would retain its natural state +during the life-time of the horse. + +A colt thus shod could not have a corn, for a corn is an ulcer caused by +the wings of the coffin-bone pressing upon a hard, unelastic substance. +When the horse raises his foot the coffin-bone is lifted upward by the +action of the flexor tendon; when his foot touches the earth the weight +of the animal is thrown upon the same bone, and, if unsupported by the +natural cushion of the foot, the action of the bone pressing the +sensitive sole upon iron causes the bruise which, for lack of another +name, is called a corn. The horse thus shod would never have a quarter +crack, for that is the immediate effect of contraction caused by the +absence of the expanding action of the frog and the consequent dead +condition of the hoof from want of circulation and proper secretions. +The horse would be equally free from "drop" and "pumiced" sole, seedy +toe, thrush, and kindred complaints. + + +INCIPIENT UNSOUNDNESS. + +[Illustration: FOOT, SHOWING SHOE AND FROG.] + +It is almost impossible to find a horse perfectly sound in his feet, +unless one looks (strange as it may seem) into the stables of the Third +Avenue Railroad Company, or those of Adams' Express, or Dodd's Transfer +Company, or into some of the other stables where our shoe and system are +in faithful use; we will therefore call attention to such a case as will +be generally presented at the forge: A good young horse, shod for +several years upon the common plan, and in the early stages of +contraction. We find he has on wide-web shoes, weighing about twenty +ounces each; these may be smooth in front and calked behind; they bear +upon the sole and heel. In place of a frog, we discover a point of hard, +shrunken, cracked substance, neither frog nor sole. We cut the clenches +and take off the relic of ignorance and barbarism, throwing it with +hearty good-will into the only place fit to receive it--the pile of +scrap-iron. We examine carefully to see that no stub of nail is left in. +The heels will be found long and hard. Our object being _frog-pressure_, +to get the vivifying action of this tactile organ upon the ground, we +pare down the whole wall; we soon come to signs of a corn--perhaps a +drop of blood starts; but as we do not intend to put the weight upon the +heels, we are not alarmed. Having cut all we can from the heels and +still finding that the frog, when the shoe is laid on, can not touch the +ground, _we knock down the last two calks and draw the heel of the shoe +thin_; this must give us a bearing upon the frog and the sound part of +the foot. We use the lightest shoe, truly fitted with the rasp, not +burned on. The horse should then be worked regularly, and he will +experience at once the benefit of a return to "first principles" and +natural action. + + + + +[Illustration: FOOT, WITH SHELL REMOVED.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +SIMPLE CASES OF CONTRACTION. + + +Contraction, in a greater or less degree, is exhibited by all horses, of +every grade, that have been shod in the common way, except in those more +unfortunate cases that have resulted in a breaking of the arch of the +foot, from lack of the natural frog support, when the phenomena of +"dropped sole" are found, and the usual accompaniment of "pumiced feet." + +It may seem superfluous to say that the power and action of the horse +are greatly restricted by contraction. + +The cartilaginous fibre that forms the bulk of the substance of the foot +behind the great back sinew is squeezed into narrow space, the working +of the joints compressed, and inflammation at the joints, or at the +wings of the coffin-bone, is excited; in worse cases navicular disease +is established, or, from inadequate circulation, thrush holds +possession at the frog, or scratches torment the heels. + +When simple contraction--shown in the narrow heel, dried and shrunken +frog, and "pegging" motion of the horse--is the case, our design is at +once to restore the natural action of the foot. This must be done by +expansion, and that is to be had from frog-pressure, according to the +directions in the preceding chapters. If navicular disease has +commenced, and the animal is decidedly lame, we have a difficult case. +The membrane of this important bone, in some cases of contraction, +becomes ulcerated, and the bone itself may be decayed, or adhesion +between the coffin-bone and the navicular and pastern may take place. +Without expansion there is no possibility of relief; local bleeding, +poulticing, and all the drastic drugs of the veterinary will be invoked +in vain. + + +QUARTER AND TOE CRACK. + +[Illustration: QUARTER CRACK--FULL SHOE.] + +This disease, usually attributed to "heat," "dry weather," "weak feet," +etc., is one of the common symptoms of contraction, and can be +entirely cured with the greatest ease; nor will it ever recur if the +hoof is kept in proper condition. + +If the case is recent, shoe as advised in our paragraph upon "Incipient +Unsoundness," being sure to cut the heel well down, putting the bearing +fully upon the frog and three-quarters of the foot. If the hoof is weak +from long contraction and defective circulation, lower the heels and +whole wall, until the frog comes well upon the ground, and shoe with a +"slipper," or "tip," made by cutting off a light shoe just before the +middle calk, drawing it down and lowering the toe-calk partially. This +will seem dangerous to those who have not tried it, but it is not so. +The horse may flinch a little at first, from his unaccustomed condition, +and from the active life that will begin to stir in his dry, hard, and +numb foot, but he will enjoy the change. The healing of the crack will +be from the coronet down, and it is good practice to cut with a sharp +knife just above the split, and to clean all dirt and dead substance out +from the point where you cut, downwards. Soaking the feet in water will +facilitate a cure by quickening the growth of the hoof; or, a +stimulating liniment may be applied to the coronet, to excite more +active growth. Bear in mind that expansion is not from the sole upwards, +but from the coronet downwards. + + +TOE CRACKS. + +The cause of this defect is the same as in quarter crack. It appears in +both fore and hind feet. Clean the crack well, cutting with a sharp +knife the dead horn from each side of it; shoe as advised for quarter +crack, or for the purpose of getting expansion and natural action of the +dead, shelly hoof. The dirt and sand may be kept out of the crack by +filling it with balsam of fir, or pine pitch. Keep the horse at regular +work. + + + + +[Illustration: QUARTER CRACK--HALF SHOE.] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +DROP SOLE AND PUMICED FOOT. + + +This miserable condition of the abused animal is Nature's fiercest +protest against the ignorance and carelessness of man. A horse set upon +heavy shoes, and those armed with calks at toe and heel, such as are +usually inflicted upon large draft-horses, has his whole weight placed +upon the unsupported sole. The frog never comes in contact with the +earth in any way, inflammation of the sensitive frog and sole takes +place, and the arch of the sole bends down under the pressure until the +ground surface of the hoof becomes flat or convex, bulging down even +lower than the cruel iron that clamps its edge. This is the condition of +a drop sole. This degenerate state of the foot has other complications. +Active inflammation is often present and all the wretchedness of a +pumiced foot--the despair of owner and veterinary--is experienced. The +smith, whose clumsy contrivance has been the cause of all the woe, has +abundant reasons to offer for the disease, and his unfailing resort of +the "_Bar Shoe_." This atrocious fetter is supplemented with leather +pads, sometimes daubed with tar, and the horse hobbles to his task. Not +unfrequently the crust at the front of the hoof sinks in, adhering to +the sole; circulation being cut off, + + +SEEDY TOE + +is then manifest. + +The only possible relief from these complications is in natural action. +Contraction is not present, but we want circulation, new growth and +absorption; we obtain it by dressing the foot smoothly with the rasp and +putting the bearing evenly upon the frog and a light shoe, which should +be merely a continuation of the wall of the foot. Many very bad cases +shod in this way have been relieved. No grease or tar should ever be +used. + + +CONTRACTION, OR DROP SOLE, WITH SORENESS AT THE TOE. + +Shoe as previously directed, and rasp or cut the sole and wall at the +toe into a slightly hollow shape, so that you could pass a knife-blade +between the hoof and shoe. The object of this is to relieve the hoof +from pressure at this point. In cases where the toe is thin and weak, or +where there is inflammation extending to the point of the frog, remove +as much of the sole pressing against the frog as seems feasible, and +level the toe-calk, so that the horse will bear upon the frog and +side-calks. + +It is often well to free a shrunken frog from the binding growth of sole +that has closed in upon it, and in cases of contraction, where this is +done, a horse will recover the action of the frog with less difficulty +than where that organ is sole-bound. + + +THRUSH. + +This is a filthy, fetid disease of the frog. By many veterinary writers +it is attributed entirely to damp stables, general nasty condition of +stall, yard, etc. Mayhew ingenuously remarks, in addition, that it is +usually found in animals that "step short or go groggily," and that the +hoof is "hot and hard." Youatt comes to the point at once in saying that +it is the effect of contraction, and, when established, is also a cause +of further contraction. It is manifest in a putrid discharge from the +frog. The matter is secreted by the inner or sensible frog, excited to +this morbid condition by pressure of contraction. Its cure is simple and +easy if the cause is removed. A wash of brine, or chloride of zinc, +three grains to the ounce of water, is generally used to correct the +foulness. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +BENT KNEES INTERFERENCE, AND SPEEDY CUT. + + +The knee of a horse is a most complicated and beautiful mechanical +arrangement, singularly exempt from strain or disease in any form. Bony +enlargement, inflammation of the ligaments, do not attack it. The ravage +of the shoeing-smith--the horse's direst enemy--seems to be exhausted +upon the feet and the sympathetic pasterns; the concussion of iron and +pavement, uncushioned by the frog, will destroy the lower system of +joints before the knee can be shaken. + +Notwithstanding this perfection and strength, many horses bend the knee, +and stand, or travel with it bent, until the flexor muscles shrink from +lack of use. This "over in the knees" condition is invariably caused by +imperfect use of the feet. The effect of heel-calks and their +accompaniment of corns, making a sore in each heel, is often indicated +by the horse to his regardless owner by bending his knee. The owner +asks the smith why he does it, and the smith, who never fails to give a +reason, says he has always noticed that horse had "weak knees." We know +of a shoer in Worcester County, Massachusetts, who has a wide local +reputation for "doctoring" weak knees. He holds that the muscles of the +leg in such cases are _too short_, and have to be lengthened with thick +iron heels and calks. It is a favorite theory of this class of shoers +that they are able to correct the errors of Providence in the horse's +construction, and piece him out with heel-calks and bar-shoes! + + +INTERFERING AND SPEEDY CUT. + +If horses were not shod, they would not interfere; it therefore follows +that shoeing is the cause of this defect. A contracted hoof, pain from +corns, or any inflammation causes a horse to seek a new bearing. In +doing this he strikes himself. Blacksmiths make "interfering shoes," +welding side-pieces and superfluous calks upon their clumsy +contrivances, and sometimes succeed in preventing the symptom, but they +never remove the cause. Few horses with natural feet, good circulation, +and shod with a light shoe, will ever interfere. In all such cases, take +off the heavy shoe, cure the contraction, get an even bearing, and let +nature have at least a momentary chance. + + +WORKING UP HORSES. + +It is a common practice of large proprietors, engaged on railroad or +city work, to buy up horses with unsound feet, unfitted for speed or +gentle service, and use them up, as old clothes are put through a +shoddy-mill for what wool there is left in them. This cruel policy, +under an intelligent system of shoeing, would be impossible, because the +vast aggregate of foot diseases would be so abated that horses, sound in +general health but creeping upon disabled hoofs, could not be found in +droves, as at present, and the speculator in equine misfortune would +better serve his selfishness by buying young horses and keeping them +sound by a natural system of shoeing. + + +STUMBLING HORSES. + +This annoyance is frequently caused by undue use of the toe, when the +heel is lame and sore from contraction and corns. When the horse has the +frog well on the ground and uses his heel without shrinking he is not +apt to stumble. + + +TO INCREASE COMFORT. + +In dry weather, or when a horse with a hard, lifeless hoof is shod with +the Goodenough shoe, and shrinks from the unaccustomed pressure of the +frog on the ground, nothing is so grateful to his feet as cold water. +The hose turned on them is a delicious bath; or if he can stand for an +hour in a wet place, or in a running brook, he will get infinite comfort +from it. We have sometimes rapidly assisted the cure of contraction, in +the city, by manufacturing a country brook-bottom in this simple way: +Put half a bushel of pebbles into a stout tub, with or without some +sand, let them cover the bottom to the depth of two or three inches, +pour on water and you have a good imitation of a mountain brook. Put +the horse's forefeet into this, and let him bear his weight upon the +frog. The first time he will grow uneasy after a few minutes, but when +his frog becomes natural in its function he will be glad to stand there +all day. + +Do not carry this treatment to excess. Moderation is the most +satisfactory course in all things. Abjure utterly all oils and greasy +hoof dressings, they are pernicious recommendations of unreasoning +grooms. They fill the pores of the wall, and injure in every way. Nature +will find oil, if you will allow circulation and secretion, through the +action of the frog. + +"Stuffing the feet," is another wretched, groom's device. A horse has a +dry, feverish hoof from contraction, so his hollow sole, denuded of its +frog, is "stuffed" with heating oil-meal, or nasty droppings of cows. +When this sort of thing is proposed, remember _Punch's_ advice to those +about to be married, "Don't do it." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ECONOMY OF THE GOODENOUGH SHOE. + + +A horse-shoe that the united voices or the shrewdest and ablest managers +in the country commend--inasmuch as it enables cripples to work, +frequently restores them, and maintains soundness where that quality +exists--need not be recommended on the ground of economy. Such a +horse-shoe could not be dear. But it takes all sorts of people to make a +world, and the pressure to the square inch of mean men is not to be +governed by safety-valves or regulated by gauges. There are too many men +who will use the thing that costs the least outlay, even if it tortures +or kills the horse. On the point of first cost we may say that if our +shoe had no advantage over the hand-made shoe in preserving the natural +action and growth of the foot, thereby retaining the powers of the +animal in full vigor, it would still be cheaper than the common shoe. It +is sold slightly higher than the clumsy pieces of bent iron called +horse-shoes by mere courtesy, and its lightness gives one-third more +shoes to the keg, while there is no expense of calking, which, in labor +and material, is equal to three cents per pound. Upon the point of +durability, it is well settled that the heavy shoe will not last so long +as the light one with frog-pressure. A horse set upon heavy shoes grinds +iron every time he moves. The least interposition of the frog will +reduce the wear very materially, and if the frog is well on the ground, +a horse will carry a shoe until he outgrows it. + +A horse-railroad superintendent said to the writer, "We don't wear iron +nowadays, we wear _frog_ and _cobble-stones_; nature provides frog and +Boston finds cobble-stones." When the Goodenough shoe is put for the +first time upon a dry, half-dead foot, and the frog brought into lively +action, growth is generally very rapid. We have often been compelled to +reset the shoe, cutting down the wall, in ten days after shoeing. Many +horses that have been used upon pavements and horse-railroads, have +acquired a habit of slipping and sliding along, catching with heel-calks +in the space between the stones; such horses do not at once relinquish +the habit, and wear their first set of our shoes much more rapidly than +the subsequent set, after they have assumed the natural action of their +feet. But, economical as a light shoe that will long outlast a heavy one +may be, the great saving is in the item of horse-flesh. + +The value of the horses employed in the actual labor of the country +reaches a startling sum total. + +The vast importance of the horse in the movement of business, was never +so fully understood and deeply felt as during the year past, when the +epizoötic swept over the continent, paralyzing all movement and every +form of human industry. Even the ships that whiten the seas would furl +their sails and steamers quench their fires but for the labors of the +horse. During the epidemic the canal-boats waited idly for their patient +tow-horses and railroads carried little freight; the crops of the West +lay in the farmers' granaries and the fabrics of the Eastern loom and +varied products of mechanical industry crowded the warehouses; even the +ragpicker in the streets suspended his humble occupation, for the +merchant, unable to transport rags, refused to buy them of the gatherer. +The investment of national wealth in horses being so enormous, any means +that adds to the efficiency of the horse greatly enhances the general +prosperity. + +[Illustration: PERFECT SHOE AND HOOF.] + +[Illustration: IMPERFECT SHOE AND HOOF.] + +It is an old English saying, that "a good horse will wear out two sets +of feet." The meaning of this adage is obvious: a good horse's feet are +useless at the time when his other powers are in the prime. Mr. Edward +Cottam, of London, in his "Observations upon the Goodenough System," +states that London omnibus-owners use up a young horse in four years; +that is, a horse of seven years of age goes to the knackers at eleven, +_pabulum Acherontis_; and the only noticeable cause of their failure is +from diseases of the feet. A horse properly shod and cared for should +endure five times as long. In this country horses fail in the feet, and +are called old at an age when they should be in the fullest activity. +This is a double loss, for every horseman of experience knows that if an +old horse is sound and vigorous he has some great advantages over a +young one. He is safer in every respect, "way-wise," seasoned, steady, +and reliable. He and his owner are old friends and companions and can +not part but with a pang of regret. A good horse, well cared for, should +work cheerfully until he is thirty years of age; yet how few are able to +perform genteel service after fifteen! It is a sad sight that of the +high-mettled, noble animal, once the petted darling of wealth, caressed +by ladies and children, and guarded so that even the winds of heaven +might not visit him too roughly, fallen through the successive grades of +equine degradation, until at last he hobbles before a clam-wagon or a +swill-cart--a sorry relic of better days. + +The question is so plain that we hesitate to argue with intelligent +people to prove that, if the old system of shoeing destroys the value of +a horse in middle life, half his money value is sacrificed to +ignorance--a waste that might be saved were nature's laws regarded. That +part of the argument which demands that the faithful, devoted servant +merits humane treatment and the best intelligence of the master in +securing his health and comfort can not be forgotten and need not be +urged upon the attention of the true horseman. + + + + +FINAL OBSERVATIONS. + + +To be _rational_ in any course of action is, primarily, to follow the +leading of reason, and by that guidance to arrive at correct +conclusions. + +It is the opposite to the method which is _irrational_--regardless of +reason, and therefore leading to conclusions erroneous and absurd. +Rationalism is opposed to ultraism, to vehement, officious and extreme +measures--while it would seek more excellent ways, it holds fast to that +which is good. + +Rationalism in medicine is the method which recognises nature as the +great agent in the cure of disease, and employs art as an auxiliary to +be resorted to when useful or necessary, and avoided when prejudicial. + +In our treatment of the hoof, we would seek to know the cause of the +horse's troubles, firmly believing that he is endowed by nature with +strength to perform the service man demands of him, and that he is not +necessarily a helpless prey to torturing diseases of the minor organs; +and, indeed, subject only to that final, unavoidable sentence, which in +some form nature holds suspended over all animate existence. + +Having by the aid of reason ascertained the cause of defects, we would +assist nature to relieve them; we have therefore called this little +hand-book of suggestions from our experience, RATIONAL HORSE-SHOEING. + + +OPPOSING FORCES. + +Having taken upon ourselves to reform evils, rooted deep in old customs, +and to abolish abuses older than our civilization, we have to meet with +discouragement and opposition in various forms. + +Even the enlightened and well-intentioned hold back incredulous. This +form of opposition finally examines, being led thereto from motives of +economy and the promptings of humanity; it usually approves and +assists, but is often carried back by indolence, when it discovers that +it must join us in the loud battle we are forced to wage all along the +line against fierce interests and bitter prejudices. + +We attack with slender array, but unflinching purpose, the gloomy powers +of ignorance that are allied to doubt and indifference. These contend +under the prestige of a thousand years of possession. + +Ignorance and Prejudice are twin giants that renew their life upon each +other; they are as old as chaos, and are invulnerable to the weapons of +ordinary warfare. Like the fallen angels, they are-- + + "Vital in every part, + And can but by annihilation die." + +One of the Greek fables, typifying the struggle of man against +circumstances, was a story of the battle between Hercules and Antæus, +son of the Earth. The fight was long and doubtful, for whenever the +mortal was felled to the ground by the power of the vigorous god, his +force was renewed by contact with the breast of his mother Earth, and +he sprang to his feet and recommenced the never-ending strife. + +This contest between the god, and the mortal born of earth and sea, is +the poetical type of the unceasing toil of man in the Valley of the +Nile, against the sandy waves of the Lybian desert, always encroaching +upon the cultivated soil, and demanding year by year new exertions to +repress their advance. + +So, in our attempt to establish a better system of utilizing the powers +of the horse in the service of man, we have each day to meet the same +enemy, renewed by contact with the sources that foster and reinforce +ignorance. But as persistent labor conducted the beneficent waters of +the Nile in irrigating channels through the arid plain of the desert, +until upon the inhospitable edge gardens bloomed, fields of grain waved +in the breeze, and the date-palm cast its grateful shade upon the +husbandman--so we make healthful progress, and enjoy a widely increasing +triple reward--first, in the thankful esteem of our fellow men; +secondly, in the relief we afford to a noble animal; and last, in the +substantial return which the highest authority has adjudged to honest +labor. + + +REGULAR WORK. + +We wish all readers of this book to understand that the directions +herein given for shoeing apply to horses whose owners expect them to +work regularly after shoeing--from the very hour in which the shoes are +set. + +We do not propose to "lay up" horses, or to put them to rest in "loose +boxes," nor yet to "turn them out to grass." One of the chief +difficulties we have had with wealthy owners has been from the tendency +to keep the horse _out of work_ when we have got him into a condition +where we want exercise to stimulate the alterative process we propose. + +A cure of any foot disease we have described, will be much more rapidly +effected if the horse has his regular work upon the roads or pavements +to which he is accustomed, no matter how hard they are. + +We hope that it has also been noticed, that we do not propose to cure +spavins, splints, navicular disease, or to restore the natural action +of a horse where ossification of cartilage is well established. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RATIONAL HORSE-SHOEING*** + + +******* This file should be named 22603-8.txt or 22603-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/6/0/22603 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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