No. 4. Long Foot—Before Treatment.
No. 5. Long Foot—After Treatment.
The common practice of fitting a shoe tight on the heels, to prevent interfering, is entirely wrong; an interfering horse does not strike with his heel, but with the inner side of the toe, not further back than the heel-nails, both hind and forward. To prevent this, the shoe should be fitted wider on the inner than on the outer heel. A horse that interferes should be carefully examined by the farrier before shoeing, who will notice particularly the shape of his feet. If the animal stands inward and interferes, the outside quarter should be cut down, and thus throw the foot level; and if he stands outward and interferes, the inside quarter should be cut down for the same reason. After this a shoe should be fitted with no nails on the inner quarter, which should be thickest.
To prevent a horse traveling pigeon-toed is simply to pare off the inner quarter of the toe, and have the shoe fitted as above. By this operation the bearing will be level. This will apply also to a horse for light riding, and for a horse traveling between the shafts; but for the latter a good block heel on the outer, and a small one on the inner quarter of the shoe should be made; the toe also to be made thick in proportion, to make the bearing level.
No. 10. Coffin-Bone.