A Text-Book of Horseshoeing, for Horseshoers and Veterinarians

by A. Lungwitz

Only the second and third classes of wry hoofs require especial attention. First, the more oblique wall must be cut down, and the steep wall spared,—a procedure which differs essentially from that employed in treating the first class, but is, nevertheless, entirely warranted, because these second and third kinds of wry hoofs do not correspond to the direction of the limb.

Fig. 211.

A wry right front foot of the base-wide class, viewed from behind. The bar-shoe is fitted full along the contracted inner quarter, and snug on the outside. The inner branch of the frog rests upon the bar of the shoe; the outer branch is free. The inner quarter from the last nail back to the frog is free of the shoe.

In order to take weight from the steep wall, we use with advantage a bar-shoe, which should be longer and wider than the hoof on its contracted side. In other words, enlarge the base of support by making the branch of the shoe broader. If an entire side wall and quarter is contracted the branch of the shoe beneath must be broad, the border bevelled base-wide, and the branch punched so deeply that the nail-holes will fall upon the white line.

In old work-horses any sort of shoe may be used, though a flat shoe serves the purpose best. If a hoof is wry from faulty paring, and we cannot at once completely restore the proper relative slant of the two walls by paring alone, we may use a shoe with a thicker branch for the half of the hoof which is too low (too steep).

In colts such wry hoofs can often be cured only by shoeing. The shoe employed for this purpose is so made that the branch underneath the steep (contracted) wall is quite thick, but gradually thins away around the toe to the end of the other branch. In strongly marked cases the thin branch may end at the middle of the side wall (a three-quarter shoe). This method of shoeing shifts the body-weight upon the slanting wall and restores the foot to its proper shape in from two to four shoeings.

Causes.—Unequal distribution of the weight in the inner and outer halves of the foot, in conjunction with excessive cutting down or wear of the steeper wall. All faults in shoeing which tend to produce contraction of the heels aid in the formation of a wry foot, especially when these faults directly affect the steep wall. Neglect of the colt’s hoofs during the first years of life frequently lays the basis for wry foot in later years. All wry feet are more susceptible to disease than others.

The amount or degree of wryness varies considerably. In a moderately developed case the steep wall (usually the inner) will be drawn in at the plantar border of the quarter, presenting a convex surface between this border and the coronet, and the adjacent branch of the frog will be more or less shrunken. In extreme cases the slanting wall (usually the outer) will also be involved and bent in the opposite direction,—i.e., will be concave (dished) between coronet and lower border (crooked hoof).

Prognosis.—When the degree of wryness corresponds to the slant of the foot-axis and the old shoe shows nearly uniform wear, the defect is not directly injurious. In very pronounced “wryness,” however, with thin, bent walls, a number of associated lesions, such as corns and cracks, may be present and render the animal unfit for service upon paved or macadam roads.