XXVII. NEGLECTED HIND FEET.
The hind feet on both trotters and pacers are the worst neglected when receiving their preparation in training and racing. Is your trotter or pacer going rough gaited with his hind legs? Is your trotter hitting his coronets, is he speedy cutting, is he hitting his shins or hocks? Is your pacer hitting his front shoes, or cross-firing? All this unbalanced action comes from an unbalanced, unprepared, and unweighted foot, most times—nearly nine out of ten—from cutting the outside of hind foot too low from center of toe back to outside heel leaving the inside the highest, which will control the line of action of the leg after the foot leaves the ground.
Lots of people do not know this and lots of horsemen do not know this until they get into trouble and commence experimenting with some fandangle shoes, long heels on one side and short heels on the opposite side, or some projection on some part of shoes that creates strain and friction trying to overcome a badly fixed foot or feet. If your trotter or pacer is doing any of the above stunts, the insides of his hind foot or feet are a lot too high for the outside. Cut the inside of hind feet down as low as they will stand, low enough to change the angle of the feet, to make the feet or angle longer to leave the ground from. If his toes are the right length do not touch them.
The best shoe for your trotter in this case is a sideweight shoe, a little heavier than he has been carrying—two or three ounces heavier. The best shoe for the pacer is a sideweight, same as above and it can be an ounce heavier than above, say four ounces heavier than he had been carrying. After your trotter or pacer becomes purer gaited you can dispense with this extra weight. Shoe light and as long as the foot or feet are kept level and at the right poise and angle you will not have any trouble. I do not recommend shoes with a long heel on one side and a short one on an opposite side on a correctly or properly fixed foot, or feet, for fast work or racing, because such shoes create undue friction at speed. When a hind leg is extended and foot or feet are properly fixed and balanced on the leg, both heels of the foot should strike the ground at the same time. If the heel on one side of shoe is three-quarter of an inch longer, or half inch longer, this long heel hits the ground first, before the opposite heel hits, which is unnatural and disagreeable to the bones of the feet, that work in sockets. It has the tendency to shift the bearing of the bones in their sockets on landing and leaving the ground, and gives extra work to the ligaments that hold the bones in their sockets. On slow-going horses this long outside heel does not affect them as severely as on horses that are working fast or racing. You must remember when horses are going at a fast pace they land on their heels as a rule with their toes elevated away from the ground. This is one of the main reasons why the heels of hind shoes should be the same length on both sides at speed or taking fast work. There are lots of horses that would have been faster and better race horses if their hind feet and action had been properly balanced to work harmoniously with one another. The speed of a horse depends largely on the propelling power of the hind quarters. The muscles of the thigh, stifle and whirlbone need looking after in their early preparation to keep the soreness out of them until they become hardened. Do not work your horse on a slippery track, wait a day or you may be sorry, if he is not eating skip a workout, it will suit the horse.