r-tight." Though the opponents of hot fitting draw a lurid picture of
the direful consequences of applying a hot shoe to the hoof, it is only
the abuse of the practice that is to be condemned. If a heavy shoe at a
yellow heat be held tightly pressed against a hoof which has been pared
too thin, till it embeds itself, serious damage may be done. But a shoe
at a dark heat may be pressed against a properly dressed hoof long
enough to scorch, and thus indicate to the farrier the portions of horn
that should be lowered without appreciable injury to the hoof and to the
ultimate benefit of the animal.

_Nailing._--The horse owner should insist on the nails being driven low.
They should pierce the wall not above an inch and five-eighths above the
shoe. A nail penetrating the white line and emerging low on the wall
destroys the least possible amount of horn, has a wide and strong
clinch, rather than a narrow one, which would be formed near the point
of the nail, and, furthermore, has the strongest possible hold on the
wall, because its clinch is pulling more nearly at a right angle to the
grain (horn tubes) of the wall than if driven high. Finally, do not
allow the rasp to touch the wall above the clinches.

THE BAR SHOE.

The bar shoe (fig. 9) has a variety of uses. It enables us to give the
frog pressure, to restore it to its original state of activity and
development when, by reason of disuse, it has become atrophied. It gives
the hoof an increased surface of support and enables us to relieve one
or both quarters of undue pressure that may have induced inflammation
and soreness. The bar of the shoe should equal the average width of the
remainder of the shoe and should press but lightly on the branches of
the frog. The addition of a leather sole with tar and oakum sole-packing
allows us to distribute the weight of the body over the entire ground
surface of the hoof.

[Illustration: FIG. 9.--An acute-angled left fore hoof shod with a bar
shoe. Note the width and position of the bar and the fact that the nails
are placed well toward the toe, so as not to interfere with the
expansion of the quarters.]

[Illustration: FIG. 10.--A fairly formed right fore ice shoe for a
roadster. The top and outer-heel calks cut at right angles, and the
inner-heel calk is slender and blunt. The back surface of the toe calk
should be perpendicular.]

THE RUBBER PAD.

Various forms of rubber pads, rubber shoes, rope shoes, fiber shoes, an