Rubber pads, light, medium and heavy, are made in all sizes and are suitable for all classes of horses, from the light roadster to the heavy draft type. The short shoe with which they are used reaches the middle of the quarters. The pad surface (upper surface) of the ends of the branches should be bevelled to conform to the pad, and to hold it firmly against the frog and buttresses. The thickness of the shoe should equal two-thirds the thickness of the pad, so that when fitted one-third of the thickness of the pad shall project below the ground-surface of the shoe. The shoe should be provided with a strong toe-clip. With the heavy, thick pad of a draft-horse a low toe-calk may be used, but heel-calks should never be put on a short shoe. Pads are seldom necessary on the hind feet.
CHAPTER IV.
SHOEING HORSES THAT FORGE AND INTERFERE.
A. Forging.
Forging is that defect of the horse’s gait by reason of which, at a trot, he strikes the ends of the branches or the under surface of the front shoe with the toe of the hind shoe or hoof of the same side. Forging in a pacer is termed “cross-firing” and consists in striking the inner quarter, or the under surface of the inner branch of a front shoe with the toe of the diagonal hind shoe or hoof.
Forging is unpleasant to hear and dangerous to the horse. It is liable to wound the heels of the forefeet, damages the toes or the coronet of the hind hoofs, and often pulls off the front shoes.
Fig. 148.
Right front shoe with concave ground-surface
(“convex iron”) to prevent “forging.”
Fig. 149.
