A new system of shoeing horses, abridged from the work of Joseph Goodwin ... containing a comparison between the English and French methods, and observations on the diseases of the feet connected with shoeing. To which are added, observations on bleeding and the pulse, a concise view of the anatomy of the foot, notes, remarks, &c.

Front matter

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Preface

The Editor of this abridgment, has no other object in its publication, than to meliorate the condition of that very useful animal, the Horse, by presenting to the American public Mr. Goodwin's New System of shoeing. Mr. G.'s original work upon this subject is expensive ; and if republished in this country, probably would not be generally read by those who might be most benefited by it. It has therefore been thought advisable to abridge it. In

IV PREFACE.

this abridgment the editor has been careful to select every thing, necessary to give to the mechanic, a full and practical knowledge of Mr. Goodwin's principles and method of shoeing, and it is believed, that it contains information, which will compensate any one who feels an interest in the horse, for a careful and attentive perusal.

A circumstance very favourable to the adoption of this new system of Shoeing, is that there can be no danger of injury to the foot, from the change, if the shoe be properly put on, however long the horse may have been shod according to the method usually adopted in this country. The principal alteration necessary to be made in the form of the hoof is, at the toe, which is usually thick, and not very likely to be injured by any one tolerably

PREFACE.

acquainted with the anatomy of the parts. A bad workman may bring disgrace upon any system of shoeing, or any other mechanical operation, however good it may be in itself, when properly executed.

The editor of this abridgment does not take upon himself the responsibility of recommending Mr. Goodwin's system of shoeing horses, nor will he feel himself in any degree implicated in its success. He presents it to the public, as it is, and the public will judge and determine whether it be an improvement upon our present method of shoeing, or not. If no attempt be made to improve, certainly no improvement can be expected. Whatever the opinion of the reader may be with regard to the particular method of shoeing recommended by the author, it is believed that he will find the work itself to contain much useful

VI rREFACE.

information, relative to the subject on which it treats ; and it is hoped that its pubiication, here, will serve a useful purpose.

Contents

Chap, i Of Contraction 1

Chap, ii Of Thrush 11

Chap, in Of Corns 16

Chap. I. Of Contraction

As the hoofs of horses are elastic, it is manifest they must be susceptible of changes. Contraction is every where to be observed among horses in this country, and it is a rare occurrence to meet with feet, that have not partaken more or less of this prevailing disease.

The state of the foot is observed in a variety of forms ; sometimes, it is perceived that both heels are approaching near together, and that the space appropriated for the frog, and the frog itself, is diminishing in its diameter ; the frog also becomes ragged, dwindles away, and has little or no horn ;

the quarters and heels at the same time lose their shape, and finally, the foot becomes larger round the coronet than at the base. In some cases it is seen that one heel is inclined to contract more than the other, and this happens more frequently with the inner quarter and heel than with the outer.

In other cases contraction begins at the coronet, and as the hoofs grow down, there appear many deep grooves round the foot ; the soles are generally thick, and the quarters and heels high ; — the term, high, is rather an improper one, but it originates in the horse being raised in consequence of the descent of the heels below the frog.

As the sides or quarters come nearer together, the foot increases in length at the toe, and frequently assumes the appearance of a mule's foot. — Contracted hoofs are generally dry and hot, which may be ascertained by comparing with the hand the heat of a contracted hoof with the heat of a perfect one. Let a contracted hoof be immersed in water, and also another which is not contracted ; it will then be seen that the contracted foot dries much sooner than the other.

Horses that have an abundance of horn are more prone to this disease than those where horn is in a less proportion ; but it occasionally affects all denominations of hoofs.

On the first appearance of this disease, a horse is continually changing the position of his feet in the stable ; thus evincing more or less internal inflammation, and on pressing the soles with pincers he flinches. He first advances one leg and then the other, if the disease be in both feet ; but if one only be affected, it is invariably that which is stretched forward.

When required to work, he sweats much sooner than a sound horse, he goes near the ground, is afraid to lift his feet up, appears foot-sore, tender, and goes very unsafely ; he frequently trips, blunders, and ultimately falls. In this manner the disease goes on till the horse becomes permanently lame.

If the contraction be in one foot, that soon becomes smaller than the other ; and if in both, they both diminish in size.

It is distressing to witness the action of horses in this state ; the pain they endure induces them to throw as much weight on their haunches as they can in order to reUeve their fore-feet ; they consequently stretch out their fore legs, bend their hocks^ and lower their croups nearer to the ground. When in the stable they continually lie down, and will scarcely get up to feed ; in this deplorable state, and it is lamentable to know that it is frequent, the animal is doomed to the slaughter-house.

In the early stage of this disease, various attempts have been made to relieve it, as drawing the soles, which is a cruel and barbarous operation, and often has a tendency to aggravate instead of to mitigate the symptoms ; blistering and firing round the coronet, removing the contracted parts, grooving with a drawing-knife in various directions, and turning out into marshy places until the hoofs are grown down again, and a variety of other expedients. In some instances, when taken up from grass, the feet appear better, and the horse again returns to work ; but in most cases this is of short duration, and then, if in the country, he is sold for a stage-coach, or for post work ; or if in London he is sent to a repository, where he is sold for a stage or a hackney coach, and in this way he lingers out a life of pain.

It is not unfrequently seen, that this disease takes place at an early age, and produces lameness ; on the other hand we occasionally observe an old horse with his feet contracted, and otherwise out of

OF CONTRACTION. S

shape, who is nevertheless very sound, but in the majority of cases, lameness takes place at the commencement of the disease.

This disease is commonly known by the term groggy, founder, &,c., and when the hoofs ai'e not much deformed, it is called chest founder, and it is generally considered to be seated in the chest.

The hind-feet of horses are not liable to this disease, or, perhaps, speaking more properly, they do not sufifer from the effects of it : we occasionally see the hind-feet of a bad form, but I never yet saw a horse labour under any permanent lameness in the hind-feet, similar to what has been described respecting the fore-feet.

There are several causes which contribute to bring on contraction ; but there is no one which has come within my observation that is so clearly manifest as the mechanical effects of the present modes of shoeing.

If we consider that the hoofs of horses are elastic and yielding, and that iron is a solid unyielding body, we may readily conceive when an elastic body is bound on, or nailed to an inelastic one, if there be much action or motion, or much weight to support, that the yielding body will give way, and conse- 1 * quently that the horn of the foot must be continually undergoing a change in its form, which I contend is occasioned by the shape of the English shoe now in common use. Having stated that the foot surface of the shoe is invariably a plane inclining from the outer to the inner edge, and that the ground surface is convex, and also that a piece of solid iron of the form described is nailed on to the hoof, it necessarily follows, as the horse treads on the shoe which is convex on the ground surface, that the whole weight must be supported on an edge, and by the nails and clinches. Thus the weight of the animal is continually squeezing the sides of the hoofs together ; and all the horn, at the quarters and heels behind the last nails, has no power to prevent the weight above from pressing them down the inclined plane.

To exemphfy this idea, suppose a horse's foot to be put into the mouth of an iron box the size of the foot, and of a conical shape, and that it is pressed by a heavy weight ; the iron box being of an unyielding substance, and the hoof elastic, it must, by degrees, assume the form of a cone. Now this is precisely the principle of English shoeing, and it is evident that the base, or bottom of the foot, is gradually made less and less, and becomes variously distorted in its form.

OP CONTRACTION. 7

Some are of opinion, that if horses were shod by the worst of smiths, and were not allowed to come into a stable, but were kept at grass, that their feet would not contract or undergo any change in form, but would remain sound. Unless these horses were kept at regular work on pavements or turnpike roads, no fair conclusion could be made from such an experiment ; it is probable, however, that lameness might thus be diminished in the same proportion as the feet are injured by confinement in the stable ; but still the animal would be subject to all the bad effects of an ill-formed shoe.

Another cause of contraction is found in the heat of stables, and more particularly in the litter being allowed to remain too long in the stalls. The ordinary custom of stablemen is to remove the wet and heated part of the litter from the stalls twice a week, but in many instances only once, which, being soaked in urine and dung, soon ferments and forms a complete hot-bed. This has a powerful effect on the hoofs of horses ; and the contrast of a state of nature, and of a bed so heated, must be very obvious.

There is also another cause which materially contributes to the production of this disease, which is the bad mode of pavmg the stalls of stables so much higher before than behind. When stables j

are constructed, this circumstance is too frequently i

left to the discretion of architects. It must be !

evident, that in stalls paved in this usual manner, J

the weight of the animal is thrown very unequally ;

on the fore legs and feet, with the toes up much \

above the heels ; the horse being compelled to stand '

in this strained position, his weight is irregularly i

distributed, and the bad effects are soon discovered, ;

not only in the tendons and ligaments, but even in |

the feet themselves. i

Much has been said about paring the frogs and cutting out the bars of the hoof, as having a powerful eflfect in producing contraction, and strong injunctions have been given, that they should not be touch- I ed by any instrument. It has not, however, come ! within my observation, that if the frogs and bars are pared with discretion, that any tendency to produce ' con'raction is occasioned by it ; on the contrary, I | cons.der it to be necessary.

Contraction appears to me, in some instances, to

be a cause of inflammation, and in others to be an I

effect. In the first instance this is demonstrated by a |

manifest alteration in the form of the foot previous j to lameness ; in the latter instance, lameness precedes, for some time, any change in the form or appearance in the hoof

Another cause of contraction may be added, which is the great concussion the feet receive when going fast over pavement or gravelled roads ; this inclines them to inflammation ; and contraction, in these cases, must be one of the consequences.

Contracted feet, when dissected, exhibit a variety of diseased appearances: in some instances considerable ossifications and anchylosis of the joints ; and in others, the bones within the hoofs have lost their solidity, and have become spongy from the absorption occasioned by the great pressure from the contracted horn.

I have before observed, that various expedients have been resorted to for the relief of contraction and its effects ; but I consider it of much greater moment to suggest a method of shoemg calculated to counteract so prevailing and so destructive a disease ; and I trust I shall not be considered too sanguine in conceiving, that after a long perseverance I have arrived at something like such a result.

With regard to the treatment of this disease, on the first appearance of contraction, bleeding both generally and locally to counteract inflammation ought to be employed, and the veins which ramify over the cartilages of the coffin-bone will afford a plentiful local evacuation ; purging, spare feeding, the abstraction of heat by the application of moisture, and the plan of shoeing subsequently recommended, appear to me calculated in some instances to cure this disease, and in most cases to relieve and to mitigate the symptoms.

Note. — Sorre smiths are in the habit of opening the heels, in cases of contraction, by notching the bars and crust. This is a jockey's trick. It gives to the foot an open appearance, approaching towards a natural form, but the effect is merely temporary. As soon as the horn grows down, the hoof will assume its contracted shape. — Americas Editor.

CHAP, II.

OF THRUSH.

I HE Thrush, a very common disease, makes its appearance in the cleft or centre of the frog. A sound frog is full of horn, and is firmly united in all its parts; but on the appearance of a thrush it is separated in the cleft, making a complete division of the horn, and penetrating through its whole substance to the sensible frog (which is the seat of this disease), where its depth is terminated. Inflammation and suppuration take place in the sensible frog, and a discharge of foetid matter, more or less, according to the state of the disease, issues through the division of the horn in the frog. This division often extends as far back as the hair of the heels, but seldom further forwards than the cleft of the frog.

The thrush is found in all horses : sometimes in one foot only, on other occasions in both fore feet ; though the disease is more frequent in the hind than in the fore feet. If it be allowed to continue long, the frog begins to diminish in size ; it grows ragged and uneven on its surface ; it loses the tough and elastic property of the sound frog, and becomes dry, hard, and brittle ; eventually little or no horn is produced, and the whole frog is a mass of filth and disease. As the disease advances, the heels and quarters close in nearer and nearer together, and the space which nature appropriated for the frog becomes nearly obliterated.

Thrushes appear principally to arise from two causes, viz. the effects of the present mode of shoeing, or continued exposure to moisture.

In some cases a thrush produces lameness, but most frequently it is unaccompanied by it. This circumstance has produced a great variety of opinions as to the soundness of horses in this disease ; and it has long been disputed, whether the horse is to be considered sound or unsound. There are certainly a great number of horses with thrushes.

where the hoofs have not undergone any material change in their form, that 1 should not hesitate to pronounce sound ; but if a thrush be accompanied by a change in the form of the foot, I should pronounce the horse to be unsound.

Any plan of shoeing which is calculated to bring on contraction, is the most likely to cause thrushes. It has been insisted upon by modern authors, that a principal cause of thrush is the constant practice that smiths adopt of paring the frogs previously to shoeing. This, like most things carried to an extreme, is, no doubt, injurious ; but if it be done with judgment and discretion, I consider it a necessary and useful practice. For as the foot is continually growing, the exterior parts, in time, become dead, and separate from the horn growing underneath ; if, therefore, these exuberant and extraneous parts be not occasionally removed, a collection of dirt and filth is found between the growing and the dead horn, which, if suffered to continue, frequently terminates in a thrush. But if these extraneous parts are removed with judgment, I have always found that the practice is beneficial.

There is one unerring criterion for the smith's direction in the performance of this operation. When 2 the dead horn is removed from the frog, he will iavariably find a whitish, mealy, and crumbly appear- • ance, where the growing horn separates from that which is dead ; all, therefore, that the smith has to attend to is to pass through this crumbly or mealy appearance, and to show the face of the growing horn ; biit on no occasion to remove it.

The cleft of frogs, or the seat of thrushes requires this attention perhaps more than any other part of it : the operation cannot be effected with any accuracy with the smith's sole-knife ; it requires a smaller one, with a larger turn, which is better adapted to clear out the cleft and the sides of the frog. .

If there is much discharge, a few dressings in the cleft with a little ^gyptiacum, or tincture of myrrh, and a small proportion of vitriolic acid will be useful. Afterwards a piece of tow saturated with a dressing of equal quantities of tar and hog's lard may be put into the cleft daily.

When horses have been long at grass, or kept in wet places without due attention to their feet, thrushes are often the consequence. In these cases it will be necessary to remove all the ragged parts of the frog, and to apply the dressing before mentioned, which in most instances will succeed. In all cases great attention to cleanliness is necessary.

The cause of thrushes, in the hind-feet of horses which are kept in stables, is the continued appUcation of moisture from dung and urine.

It is a general observation, that it is hazardous to stop a thrush ; for by so doing it will affect the eyes. If the disease has existed long, it may be advisable to bleed and physic, as a continued drain from any source requires some precaution when stopped.

Neglected thrushes sometimes terminate in canker ; but that is a disease which I do not consider as strictly connected with those which are occasioned by the present system of shoeing.

Chap. III. Of Corns

i^oRNs are a very frequent disease, and common to all horses ; but those accustomed to slow work are less liable to it than any other class. The hind-feet are not subjects to this disease, though on some occasions, a very trifling appearance of a corn shows itself in them ; but cases of this kind are very rare, and I have never seen the bad effects produced by corns in the hind-feet, which usually attend that disease in the fore-feet.

Corns generally appear in the inner heels of the fore-feet, at the angle between the bars and the crust ; and they seldom occur on the outside heels.

On removing- the superfluous horn, corns show themselves by a reddish appearance of the horn in the part before named, and if a little more horn be taken away, they will be seen more distinctly, resembling a part bruised and full of blood, which has made its way into the pores of the horn. This appearance sometimes predominates in the direction of the bars, and sometimes between the crust and the sole, taking the direction of the laminae.

Corns, like thrashes, are not always accompanied by lameness, though that is a very frequent and troublesome consequence of them.

It is alsp in this disease a disputed point, whether a horse is to be considered sound or unsound. Corns frequently appear at a very early age, and in some instances before the animal has been shod ; if, therefore, every horse was deemed unsound that has an appearance of a corn, there would be very few that could be called sound. I consider this in a similar light to thrushes ; if there be only the appearance of a corn, without any material change in the form of the hoof, or previous lameness, 1 should not hesitate to pronounce him to be sound ; but on the contrary, if there be a difference in the form of the foot, and if he expresses soreness when pressed by a pair of pincers, I should then consider him to be unsound.

It may be opposed to this, that when a disease has shown itself, the horse is no longer to be considered sound ; but I think a necessary distinction may be made where there is only a trifling' appearance of disease, without any ill effects, and when this appearance often gradually disappears.

When lameness proceeds from corns, it on some occasions comes on suddenly, but generally by degrees. When a horse is lame, and there is no reason to suspect it to be in any part above the foot, on the shoe being removed, it is often found to be occasioned by corns, and this the drawing knife and pincers soon ascertain.

Corns appear to be the effect produced either by the shoe, or by the horn taking a wrong direction in its growth. The consequence in both cases is the same ; but the proportion of those which arise from the former cause, are infinitely more numerous than the latter, viz. an increased pressure from the shoe on the internal sensible heel, which causes an extravasation of blood into the pores of the horn ; and if the pressure is continued, and there is more blood extravasated than can be readily taken into the circulation again by the absorbent vessels, inflammation and suppuration generally succeed.

In some instances where corns have not been suspected to exist, and the horse has been lame for some time, it is found that matter has formed under the horn, pervading' the sole and frog. Ths matter often makes its way up the laminae, and ultimately breaks out between the hair and hoof, and terminates in an unhealthy sinus, or in what is termed a quittor.

It has been contended, that the only cause of corns, is from the heel of the shoe lying in close contact with that part of the sole which is between the bar and the crust ; and that if a necessary portion of horn was removed at every shoeing, no such effect could occur; but, however cautiously this operation may be performed, if the shoe itself is of such a form as may produce a morbid change in the form of the hoof, it will be found that corns, with all their troublesome consequences, will continually take place. And I have no doubt, if a plan of shoeing can be suggested which is calculated not to bring on this disease, that it will be considered of far greater importance than any remedy which may be suggested for its cure.

To remove any urgent symptoms, if-the horse is very lame, most likely suppuration will have taken place, and it will be proper to pare the horn as closely as the sensible parts will allow, that the matter may escape. Fomentations and poultices will be necessary, with bleeding and physic, and a spare diet ; and as the inflammation abates, and the new horn grows up, any simple dressing may be applied.

It is sometimes a practice on the appearance of a corn, to apply caustic applications, and even the actual cautery ; but it is obvious, that such a mode can only tend to aggravate instead of to alleviate the symptoms. If it has been necessary to remove much horn, the animal should be at rest, either in a loose place, or be turned out to grass, till the horn be regenerated. But, on some occasions, where horses are required to work before the new horn is . grown down again, bar shoes will be of great use.

There are a number of cases where the inflammation does not terminate in suppuration, and where it has not been requisite to remove much of the crust : these symptoms are in general removeable by the ordinary treatment of inflammation, both general and local.

In all cases of lameness rest in a loose place is necessary.

Chap. IV. Of Sand Cracks

X HE Sand Crack is a longitudinal slit, or division of the fibres of the crust, which commences at the coronet, and extends more or less down the foot in the direction of the fibres, according to the previous state of the hoof; on its first appearance, it is seldom lower than the middle of the foot, and it is generally accompanied by a trifling discharge of blood, which may be perceived oozing through the crack.

The inside quarters of the fore-feet are most frequently the seat of this disease : it is seldom found on the outside quarters, and is rarely to be met with in the hind-feet.

All horses are liable to this disease, though some are more so than others. Those of the heavy

22 OF SAND CRACKS.

kind, employed in slow work, are least liable ; and the same reasons will apply here, as in contraction ; for as this class of horses is generally used in slow draught, the heels are but little used ; neither are they subject to a high temperature in the stable, nor accustomed to stand on hot litter.

This disease also is not always, though it is frequently, attended by lameness.

The cause generally arises from an improper method of shoeing ; for that mode, which alters the natural form of the hoof, combined with the absence of moisture and the heat of the stable and litter, by destroying the tough elastic property of the hoof, renders it consequently more liable to this disease.

But it sometimes occurs among those that are never shod ; for I have observed it among brood-mares without shoes ; with them it generally happens in dry summer months.

If this disease be not radically removed, the horn will not re-unite ; but will continue to grow down with the split still existing. The part separated is called a false quarter.

To effect a cure it will be necessary to cauterize the hoof at the coronet with a common firing iron, in a transverse direction, makin": a hne across the

OF SAND CRACKS, 23

crack of two inches in length, about an inch below the termination of the skin, the edge of the iron should pass through the horn to the sensible parts, and the surface of the coronary ring should be lightly cauterized with the flat side of the iron, to cause inflammation. The iron should also be applied at the lower end of the crack to prevent it extending further down.

A bar shoe should be employed, that the quarter and heel may not come in contact with the shoe, and to leave the diseased parts at rest.

This operation will of course produce considerable inflammation ; the usual remedies of bleeding, physic, fomentations, poultices and a spare diet will then be necessary. When the inflammation is abated, the new horn, connected in its fibres, will be seen growing from the coronet, and the hoof will gradually become sound ; a run at grass, or a loose place, will be beneficial until the new horn is completely grown ; and when the horse is again shod for work, a different plan of shoeing, and keeping the foot cool and moist, are remedies which will naturally suggest themselves to prevent a recurrence of the disease.

Chap. V. Op Pumiced Feet Or Convex Soles

[plate II. FIG. III.]

A PUMICED foot is that in which the sole descends below the crust ; if the horse stands without shoes, the sole is the part which will come in contact with the ground instead of the crust.

This disease is invariably accompanied with a deformity of the crust in the front of the foot ; it loses the full and prominent appearance observable in a sound hoof, becomes hollow and wrinkled, and turns up at the toe. It is a very common disease, and all horses are liable to it; but it prevails principally among those which have flat, circular, broad feet.

or PUMICED FEET, fee. 25

There are, however, cases of this disease in feet, where there is an abundance of horn.

As the disease goes oa, the soia sinks lower and lower, the wrinkled hollow appearance in the front increases, and the toe curls more op, till at last the whole hoof becomes completely d.storted.