A chronic shin, knee and arm hitter was a horse called Rustler, owned at Richmond, Va. In the early part of the summer that he raced so well, he was working miles around 2:41 and 2:42 but very unsteady, breaking continually. He would begin by hitting his shins, as speed was increased he would hit his knees and arms so hard that he would not stay on the trot. He was brought to me to shoe by his colored groom, who also brought his boots, as I had never seen the horse in action, but after seeing the boots he wore, I saw at a glance he needed as far as gaiting or balancing was concerned, to be regenerated. He was a large horse, and his feet had not grown much from the last shoeing so as I could change them to my liking. I was informed that he went best in light shoes, but the owner told me to use my own judgment, so I did. I made a pair of sideweight shoes, 18 ounces with toe and heel calks, the heavy side of shoes on the inside of each front foot, the outside of each front shoe as light as possible. After leveling his hind feet, a light shoe with heel calks was put on. The owner, Mr. C. J. Smith of Richmond, Va., came to the shop and looked at the front shoes and did not like the job, as to the weight and the calks, thinking if he did not knock a leg off, he would cut boots and legs to smithereens. I told him I would change them if he thought it best, but before I got ready to take them off he said leave them on and I will try them and see what he will do with them. The groom drove him out to the track, and Mr. Smith, being present, ordered the groom to drive him a slow mile as the trainer was not there; he worked the second mile so easy that he was worked another easy mile in 2:21, the last quarter well within himself in 33 seconds without a break, over the same half-mile track on which he could not beat 2:41 previous to this shoeing. They said when he got on his stride there was nothing the matter with him. I had not heard from the horse for nearly a week when one day as the owner was driving by I hailed him asking how was Rustler, he said “he is all right, there isn’t a thing the matter with him.” He went to the races, started in at Baltimore, Maryland, and after winning seven or eight consecutive races, finished at Readville a close second in 2:12. Most of his races were won in the same front shoes it took to balance him, and yet some writers will say you cannot get immediate results.
XI. SHIN, KNEE AND ARM HITTING PACER.
H. J. Rockwell and Rustler a pacer and trotter respectively, would hit and cut their boots something terrible. I took H. J. Rockwell away from his knees by the mode of foot fixing and shoeing hereinbefore prescribed and that made a race horse of him, whereas he had been hitting his knees for several years. While he was hitting his knees he was rated as a quitter, but after he began to beat horses like “B. B.” over the half-mile tracks, the race followers wanted to know from his trainer, the late F. M. Dodge, what he had done to him. I mention this particular case because the public or horsemen that knew this horse knew he was a tough proposition to balance.
XII. ELBOW HITTING.
Some horses do this when being speeded. It is caused by excessive knee action, in folding up of the leg, also in the flexing of the pastern joint. It is faulty or lost action. For elbow hitting, as a rule, the horse should be made to go in as light a shoe as possible, he should get his training with his front feet kept as low as possible at the quarters and heels and the foot at an angle of about 49 degrees, he should be shod as light as possible with plain or bar shoes, and with as light a toe weight as possible, for the more toe weight he carries the harder he will go to his elbows. Most all elbow hitters hit their elbows with the toes of the shoe while the knee is being elevated. It would be a hard matter for a horse to hit his elbows with the heels of the shoes with the knee extended and elevated, for at this time is when the fold of the knee and flexing of the pastern causes the toe of the shoe to strike against the elbow. If preparing the foot for the shoe as stated above and shoeing the feet light does not stop the elbow hitting apply a bar shoe with most all the weight in the bar and quarters of the shoe, the shoe being light as possible around the toe where the nail holes are punched. Be sure and have the quarters and heels as low as possible. The reason for low quarters and heels on an elbow hitter is, that it makes a longer angle to leave the ground from, and it gives a longer bearing surface behind the leg, to receive the weight that is in the quarters and bar of the shoe which is put there to prevent some of the folding of the knee and some of the flexing of the pastern that causes the interference. I have been very successful shoeing elbow hitters with this kind of a shoe. All elbow hitters should be worked to go as low headed as possible, a standing martingale works well on some. If you put on too much of a toe weight on some horses that go close to their elbows it will drive their action to, or against their elbows. Now this being the case, if toe weights will drive him to his elbows a heel weight will usually prevent folding against the elbows.
Now in making this shoe for an elbow hitter it will be necessary to add from four to six ounces more weight to the shoes than he has been carrying, but put it all in the quarters and bar at the heels, and keep adding weight to the heels of front shoes until he stops hitting his elbows. This kind of a shoe is to be used when a very light shoe fails to prevent elbow hitting. Squaring the toe of the shoe will also help to lighten the blow, or take him that much farther away from his elbows.
To decrease the lofty folding action of elbow hitters the foot should be placed at an angle of from 47 to 49 degrees or as near to that as possible, and add the amount of weight of shoes he has been carrying to the toe weight and also add not less than four or five ounces more to each of a pair of heel weight shoes, when a light one did not answer. Do not use any toe weight, but if the heel weight bar shoes are not heavy enough, a heavier shoe or quarter boot can be used.
One thing that should not be overlooked in a horse hitting his elbows is his hind action, it should be examined closely. The hind action may be too dwelling gaited, the stride may be too short or too long. Now if the hind action is of a sluggish nature, it will be a benefit to increase his propelling power, it will drive his elbow an inch, more or less, away from the flexing of the foot against it. If he is long and dwelly gaited you can quicken or make him more rapid, if he is striding too short you can lengthen his stride by fixing his feet and applying weight. It is very important to increase his propelling power. A horse that hits his elbows needs to be balanced by foot fixing, and the applying of weight to go on as light a line as possible, because the harder he pulls on the bit when at speed the more he is inclined to hit his elbows.
If the hind stride is too long and dwelly, shorten the hind toes considerably and use a square toe shoe and raise the heels with a side calk. If the hind stride is too short lower the quarters and heels of the hind feet as much as they will stand and add two or three ounces more weight to the hind shoes. With toe and heel calks a horse with a long cannon bone, with lofty action that flexes his foot from the ground with a snap is more likely to hit his elbows than a horse with shorter cannon bones.