Читать книгу Balancing and Shoeing Trotting and Pacing Horses онлайн

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There is very little attention paid to the hind feet. They try to get them the same length and angle, but there are very few hind feet properly fixed to control a perfect line of action, to lengthen or shorten the stride, to close or widen the action or to elevate or lower the action. There are very few floormen that can level and balance a hind foot. In preparing it for a shoe to correct faulty action, the majority of them do not know how to hold the leg to look at the bottom of the foot to tell which side is highest. They should keep in mind while fixing the foot, the results they are trying to get; if they do not, they are liable to get the foot too low on one side or the other. A hind foot that is left the highest on the inside is a dangerous weapon to a trotter or pacer; it will cause injury to ankle ligaments and to bones of the foot. In the majority of cases the angle of a hind foot should be several degrees shorter than the angle of the front feet. A hind foot that is left the highest on the inside on a trotter or pacer will have a tendency to close up the line of action of the hind leg and create cross-firing and shin, hock, ankle and pastern hitting. As the coffin or pedal bone of a horse’s foot is symmetrical in shape, it is not proper to have wings of abnormal growth more on one side of the foot than on the other, for this constitutes an unbalanced foot. If it measures more on one side of the foot than on the other, from the center of the frog, make both sides alike, to balance up matters and to conform with the shape of the coffin bone inside; if the toe of one foot is longer than that of the other it creates a longer leverage to leave the ground from, therefore the stride of that leg would naturally be a little longer, everything else being equal. If the heels of one foot are left higher than those of its mate, the stride would be a little shorter and the jar or concussion greater. A good rule in fixing hind feet is, always cut or rasp the inside of foot down first, because you can always get the outside of a hind foot cut down to the level of the inside. A foot should be fixed so that the leg will be kept in the middle of the foot. If the foot has a contracted quarter, one side or the other, you cannot do it until the contracted quarter is expanded, which is easily done (see article on contracted feet). It is difficult to fix feet to suit the leg, and line of action, and also some people’s eye, all at the same time. The frog of the horse’s foot should never be cut, if it is in a healthy state. A diseased frog that has loose fragments hanging to it may be trimmed off so as not to be holding filth. Never cut the heels open with a knife or rasp to make the foot look wider across the heels, a practice that has long existed with some people. It is unnatural, it helps to contract the heels, and shortens the bearing surface from toe to heel. Any one that does this is dangerous. Trimming out the frog, opening the heels with the knife, cutting out the bars, and too much of the sole, will give you a hoofbound and contracted sore-footed horse, it will help to shorten up his gait and sometimes make him rough gaited. Feet of this kind cannot stand the jar or concussion that feet can that have been properly treated.