The art of horse-shoeing : a manual for farriers / [William Hunting].

  • Hunting, William.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The art of horse-shoeing : a manual for farriers / [William Hunting]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    17/136 (page 9)
    CHAPTER II. The Form and Action of the Foot. The foot of a horse consists of a variety of living structures, differing in form and texture, and enclosed in a horny cover- ing called the hoof. Although the farrier’s work is applied only to the hoof it is necessary that he should know some- thing of the whole foot, because it is but too easy to injure the structures within by alterations of the horny covering without. The simplest way to understand the foot is to study separately the different parts, and to apply that knowledge in obtaining a general idea of the relations of all the parts to each other. There is not then much difficulty in appre- ciating the functions of each part, and the uses and action of the whole organ. The Hoof. Everyone is familiar with the general appearance of the hoof. It is not a regular geometrical figure. Each of the four feet of the horse shows some peculiarity in form, by which a farrier can at once identify a fore from a hind or a left from a right. The fore feet should be similar in size and shape. Disease may be suspected when any marked difference exists. But a healthy hoof which has been broken, or much rasped, does not retain its proper form and may thus confuse a novice. The hind feet should be proportionate in size to tbe fore, and then it is not of much practical consequence whether the whole are large or small. The front feet are rounder and less pointed at the toe than the hind; they are also more sloping in front. The two fore feet and the two hind should be in pairs The right and left feet are distinguished from each other by the inner side being more upright or, if examined on the under surface, by the outer border being more prominent. Although to a casual observer the hoof appears as one continuous horny structure, it may easily be separated into three distinct parts by prolonged soaking in water. The division takes place so as to leave the sole, frog, and wall separate portions. These may now be considered.