The first thing to be done is to carefully examine the horse’s feet all around, to see that they are of a natural shape, taking care to abstain from any action that will tend to excite the horse.
The shoes should be removed one at a time, and the nails carefully drawn after the clinches are cut, one at a time; anything like tearing off the shoe by main force should by all means be avoided.
The shoe being removed, the rasp should then be used on the edge of the foot where the shoe has been, removing all dirt and gravel which may have accumulated there, and thus prevent injury to the shoeing knife.
If the foot is healthy and of a natural shape, and has been shod regularly, no alteration is required, but simply to pare out the sole of the foot, removing the bors entirely, and opening out the heels back. The surface of the frog should be trimmed off a very little, but the sides should never be cut.
By reference to Plate No. 12 the exact idea of the system of paring the foot may be gained. It has been practiced successfully, and is recommended for the simple reason that by the system of removing the bors and opening out the heels, contraction is prevented, and the frog retains its natural shape, because all pressure is removed from each side.
The foot should not be scooped out so as to leave the wall projecting without any support; for the wall of the hoof is the base upon which the horse travels, and this should be supported by a sufficiency of the sole as a “ground surface.” The shoes should be removed and the feet prepared one at a time.
In fitting a shoe to the foot, after it has been thoroughly prepared, the farrier should take hold of the foot and see that the shoe is perfectly easy on the heels, and that he has sufficient room all around in the manner illustrated on Plate No. 11. If the shoe is found to fit well everywhere, he will take the foot between his knees, and placing the shoe properly, drive the nails with great care, so that the shoe cannot get out of its proper place. When the nails are started he should hammer them home lightly, or according to the foot he is working on. The three nails on the inside and outside, toward the toe, should always be driven a little tighter than the heel nails, so as to prevent pressure on the heels. No man should be in a hurry in shoeing a horse, but should always be careful in fitting and driving the shoe as instructed.
A shoe should never be fitted tightly, unless the coffin-bone has too much play; then it should be fitted tight around the toe and each quarter, as far as the nail-holes extend back, in order to contract the foot, and bring the coffin-bone to its proper place. Such cases are, however, very rare.
The heels of the shoe should never be allowed to curve inward toward the frog, and the foot should be prepared so as to prevent any pressure from the shoe on the heel, in the manner shown by Plate No. 14, at the same time allowing the bearing of the shoe to be perfectly equal.