The Sporting Dictionary and Rural Repository, Volume 2 (of 2) / Of General Information upon Every Subject Appertaining to the Sports of the Field

by William Taplin

SHOEING of HORSES

,—which for time immemorial remained in its almost original state, has for the last fourteen years become an object of importance and general investigation. What for a century before was never thought worthy a moment's consideration, but by those whose professional province it was to FORM the SHOES, and set them on, is at length found worthy the fashionable and condescending inspection of NOBLEMEN, GENTLEMEN, the polished groom, and the illiterate stable-boy. This change is well known to have originated in the publication of "Taplin's Stable Directory" 1789; which, from its unprecedented popularity, passed through TWELVE editions in the short space of four years. To the appearance of this work, upon a subject so long neglected, are the public indebted for the much-wanted veterinarian improvement which has since taken place; as well as for the constantly increasing influx of veterinary writers, who, speculating upon the success of the original reformer, have obtruded upon the world such an infinity of imitations, and such a profusion of what they have thought improvements, that the discerning part of the public (plainly perceiving the deceptive imbecility of such attempts) rendered them abortive; a multiplicity of books having been announced upon veterinary subjects within the last seven years, which have been immediately buried in oblivion, without a sale sufficient to pay even for the paper upon which the works were printed.

The rage for an improvement in the system of farriery which Taplin's books had induced, extended to almost every part of the kingdom, and necessitous adventurers became vulcanian speculators in every direction. Various new, important and infallible plans of SHOEING were hypothetically introduced amongst the infant crop of newly-sown veterinarians; one avowed himself an advocate for long shoes; another, for short shoes; a third, for high shoes; a fourth, for low shoes, and thin heels; a fifth, for half shoes; and a still more sagacious groupe of THEORETICIANS, for no shoes at all!!! To the great credit of the nation, and the strenuous endeavours of investigating individuals, this fashionable thirst of folly, this infatuating furor, seems now in a great degree to have subsided, and affords reason to believe, as well as to hope, the veterinary mania has (at least in this respect) attained its CRISIS; and that the only rational, safe, and judicious mode now in general use, will be no more attacked by the wild and chimerical speculations of those, whose want of professional skill and scientific information must ever render their schemes abortive.

That gentlemen will dedicate part of their time to examine the internal structure of the foot, the anatomical formation and junction of the bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilages, and membranes, is not to be expected; but that they will, upon the principle of self-defence, be careful to understand enough of the EXTERIOR, to check occasionally the rude hand of the injudicious or inconsiderate operator, is readily to be believed. The operative act of shoeing, in its general sense, as appertaining to the making of the shoe, the insertion of the nails, and the external finish of the foot, are too well known, and publicly performed, to require the most trifling description. Although one general data, or fixed rule, is laid down, by which all good and sound-footed horses should be shod without an exception, (proportioning the form, size, substance and weight of the shoe to the use of the horse,) yet there are occasional deviations, which cannot consistently be avoided, but must be prudently submitted to, when diseases of the foot, or injuries to the hoof, render them truly necessary. Hoofs, it is well known, are not all alike, nor are the same hoofs always in the same state; some are preserved so by unremitting care, and strict attention; others are permitted to get into decay, and to become diseased by a want of both. The OPERATIVE FARRIER has his different distinctions and denominations for the various kinds of hoof which come under his hand; as the sound, strong, firm, black hoof, which is generally perfect, and seldom either defective or diseased; the rough and brittle hoof, which is mostly wide and weak, requiring nightly stopping at the bottom, and oiling round the top; the long, flat and shelly hoof, which runs all to toe, and leaves nothing at the heel; the crooked or rather horny hoof, which, from a defect in radical moisture, grows into a wrinkled rigidity, that almost sets both the RASP and BUTTERIS at defiance. There are also others so thin, wide, and expanded above, and the outer sole so prominent on each side the frog below, that such are called fleshy-footed, and require a shoe of peculiar formation, as well as much extra care in setting it on. Some hoofs are so contracted with heat, and narrowed at the heel, (particularly if the frogs are wasted by thrush and corrosion,) that when turned, the vacuum bears the appearance of intentional excavation.

Under this accumulation of considerations, some conditional variations must be admitted, from the fixed and proper rules to be laid down, although the fundamental principle should still be the same; and, notwithstanding the superfluous and destructive freedom of the drawing-knife and butteris, are frequently, and with great justice, condemned; yet they must sometimes be brought into moderate use: but those who render them subservient to the purposes required, should invariably retain it in memory, that more may be injudiciously destroyed in five minutes, than can possibly be restored in TEN months. The entire ART of SHOEING may be reduced to a very concise description, and consists in paring the foot (when it is necessary) with judgment, tenderness, and safety; to form the shoe with good, substantial, sound, Swedish iron, of a shape and make hereafter to be described; in selecting nails of a proper size, length, or strength, equally adapted to the shape of the foot, and the weight of the shoe; and, lastly, to the very critical task of driving them properly, clinching them firmly, and finishing the foot neatly.

The act itself being thus publicly seen in practice, and generally comprehended, it becomes only necessary (amidst the variety of speculative opinions lately obtruded upon public notice) to introduce such comparative reasoning, and practical proof, of the superior excellence and rational propriety of the execution, as may enable every reader to take an impartial survey of the different modes recommended, in doing which, he is then at liberty to adopt which ever he may be induced to think approaches the nearest to perfection.

Amidst the great variety of attracting novelties which issued from the press, after the publication of Taplin's Pattern Shoes, was "a concave shoe," most zealously recommended by the PROFESSOR of a public institution, since deceased; who, had he lived only a few weeks longer, would have received the most unequivocal proofs of the fallacy of the theory, when put into competition with the UNERRING criterion of PRACTICE: but happily for him, and luckily for his great and opulent friends, (who were daily and shamefully forsaking him,) he died just in time to save his reputation. Suffice it, therefore, in delicacy to his error, as well as to his memory, only to observe, that the SHOE passing under that denomination (having a smooth or flat inside to cover the foot, and a concave surface, to come in contact with the ground or pavement) was the very reverse of what it should be, and only calculated to render tender, if not cripple, any horse, if obstinately persevered in; as will be candidly admitted by every reader of rationality, when the representation of the FOOT, the form of the SHOE, and the setting on of that shoe, are taken into distinct and separate consideration.

To face Page 265. Vol. 2ᵈ. DEMONSTRATIVE SHOEING.

That this may be done with a more comprehensive and general effect, divested of SCIENTIFIC disquisition, or ANATOMICAL ambiguity, a Plate is annexed; which, with very little explanatory matter, will afford the most perfect and satisfactory elucidation. A is the representation of a sound, firm, well-formed HOOF, in a slate of unembellished nature: here is evidently no devastation required—no paring off at the heel—no slicing off from the sole—no cutting-knife at the toe; nor does it, with an eye of the strictest judgment and circumspection, seem to claim or solicit from the art of man, any other assistance, than protection against the injury it must inevitably sustain from harder bodies, when brought into use by constant collision. That this fair and candid investigation may be the less liable to miscontruction, and that cynical misrepresentation, or envious opposition, may not (even in the weakest minds) warp the effect of truth, let it be observed, that the circular line marked 1 is the line of articulation, or, in other words, the distinct line of separation; around which is the wall or crust of the HOOF, (in itself insensible,) where the bearing only should be, and where the figure 5 of E will be found accurately formed for its reception.

That part of the foot extending from the line of separation on one side, to the corresponding line of separation on the other, having the FROG in the center, and marked 2 on each side, is called the outer sole, covering a membranous mass, or substance, called the inner sole, which is of exquisite sensibility, requiring PROTECTION without pressure upon the external part; which it will be seen (by referring to the Plate) is sufficiently afforded by the concave formation at Fig. 6 of letter E, which, upon the accurate inspection of the best informed and most experienced investigators, must be admitted a shoe of the first perfection for the promotion of every good, and the prevention of every ill.

Having thus produced both foot and shoe, as unsullied representations of NATURE and ART, and adapted the make of one to the formation of the other, with a consistency no man of common comprehension will presume to dispute, we proceed to an impartial examination of the letter B, which represents the mode of SHOEING adopted, and some time persevered in, at a place of veterinary celebrity, upon the discontinuance of the very short-lived concave shoe.

As it is a remark of long standing, that the exterior strikes first, so we shall find here, that, upon a superficial survey of the letter B, there is a neatness in the execution, that seems to excite attention, and command respect; but when it is critically examined with the eye of precision, and its deficiencies pointed out, it then loses all power of permanent attraction, and will advance no well-founded claim to approbation or imitation. Admitting (as it is presumed no opposition whatever arises to the fact) that the wall of the FOOT represented by Fig. 1, should have its bearing upon the properly-adapted part of the shoe, ascertained by referring to Fig. 5 of E, and continued home to the extreme point of the heel accurately terminated by the Fig. 7 of C; let us see what would be the inevitable consequence of having the shoes an inch and a half too short at each heel, as represented by Fig. 3 of B, where NATURE, REASON, OBSERVATION, and EXPERIENCE, concentrate their whole force to demonstrate the consistency, the safety, in fact, the indispensible necessity, of its being continued to Fig. 4 of B, as is already explained by previous reference to Fig. 7 of C.

Convinced, therefore, beyond the shadow of doubt, (as every reader may by another reference to No. 1,) that the wall of the HOOF holds forth its own proof, that the shoe should be continued home to the extreme point of the heel, or that it requires no shoe at all; and this alternative being first understood, and then acceded to, by every comprehension, it will be equally clear, that as much as art falls short in the support which NATURE requires, proportional must the injury be, by the inevitable indentation; invariably productive of bruises, and tenderness upon the edge of the sole, thereby laying the foundation of preternatural stricture, corns, callosities, and other ills, which would be more perfectly understood by an examination of any such subject, after a shoe one third too short had been eight or ten days in constant wear.

By way of concluding observations upon the Plate, and its purpose, it becomes only necessary to remark, that the letter C is the hoof of a large saddle or carriage horse, well covered for the pavement of the METROPOLIS, or travelling upon the turnpike-road. That the letter B is a perfect model of good shoeing for HUNTER or HACKNEY, provided the heel of the shoe was continued to Fig. 4, instead of terminating at 3. That Fig. 8 is called the web of the SHOE, which is, in fact, no more than the whole breadth of the iron, and may be widened, or narrowed, entirely by the judgment of the SMITH, or the discretion of the OWNER. That Fig. 9 is the cavity called the groove, or fullering, to receive the heads of the nails, above which (in SHOEING of EXCELLENCE, and superiority) they should never constitute a prominence; and that the letter D is no more than a back view of the short shoe, for some time so powerfully recommended, which has already most deservedly fallen into disrepute.

Having considered it necessary to introduce such minute references as will sufficiently demonstrate the difference between good shoeing and bad, it remains only to add a single deficiency of SHOEING SMITHS in general, who, from indolence, inattention, or inability, entirely lose sight of, or never form at all, the proper line of distinction between the bearing of Fig. 5 for the crust (or wall) Fig. 1; and the protection afforded the outer sole, Fig. 2, by the internal concave example in Fig. 6. Considering this remissness in the operator, and shoeing too short at the heels, to constitute the prevalent and principal errors requiring rectification, it is anxiously to be hoped, that those whose minds are open to conviction, will contribute their assistance to inculcate the necessity of adopting one invariable standard as a leading step to general reformation.