Fig. 151.
Left hind hoof of a toe-narrow
pacer, shod to prevent cross-firing: a,
dotted line indicating outer border of the hoof;
b, long bent outer branch; c, short,
thin inner branch; d, inner wall extending
beyond the shoe; f, line from which inner
branch is feather-edged. The shoe is of even
thickness from b to f at inner
toe; but from latter point to c diminishes
to a feather edge.
Fig. 152.
Front view of hoof and shoe
depicted in Fig. 151: a, outer branch
fitted very full and bevelled base-wide;
b, inner branch diminishing in thickness
from inner toe c, to its termination at
the inner quarter. Designed to favor “breaking
over” near centre of the toe, and to widen the gait.
The shoe should be light, without heel-calks, but may carry a low, curved grab (“grab,” is a low, straight or curved, toe-or heel-calk on a racing plate) running from the second inner toe nail to the centre of the toe. The inner branch is to be fitted flush with the wall from the centre of the toe back to the quarter, back of which point it gradually extends beyond the wall, i.e., is fitted full; and terminates well back of the buttress. This inner branch should be from one-fourth to three-eighths of an inch longer than the outer branch. The long inner branch, full at the quarter, is desirable, but must be covered by a quarter-boot, which a cross-firer should always wear.
The outer branch should be fitted snug and terminate at the buttress. From the centre of the toe to the end of the branch the ground-surface should be bevelled from the inner edge of the web to a knife-edge at the outer border.
Dressing and shoeing the hind foot: The hoof should be relatively low from the centre of the toe around to and including the inner buttress. If the outer half of the hoof is deficient in length, it must be raised above the inner half by applying a shoe with a thin inner branch. The inner branch may terminate in a knife-edge midway between toe and heel ([Figs. 151] and [152]).
The inner branch is to be fitted snug from the centre of the toe to its end, and its ground-surface should be bevelled from the inner edge of the web to a knife-edge at the outer border.