rs, paring the frog to a shapely smoothness,
and then nailing on a broad, heavy piece of iron, covering not only the
wall but a portion of the sole also, thus putting it out of the power of
the horse to take a natural, elastic step.

In a short time the hoof, unbraced by the sole and bars, begins to
contract, the action of the frog upon the ground, which in the natural
foot is threefold--acting as a cushion to receive the force of the blow
and thus relieve the nerves and joints of the leg from concussion,
opening and expanding the hoof by its upward pressure, quickening the
circulation and thereby stimulating the natural secretions,--this all
important part of the organization, without which there is no foot and
no horse, becomes hard, dry, and useless. Then follows the whole train
of natural consequences. The delicate system of joints inclosed in the
hoof feel the pressure of contraction, the knees bend forward in an
attempt to relieve the contracted heel. In this action the use of the
leg is partially lost. The horse endeavors to secure a new bearing,
interferes in movement, or stands in uneasy torture.

Nature frequently seeks relief by bursting the dry and contracted shell,
in what is known as quarter or toe crack, and the miserable victim
becomes practically useless at an age when his powers should be in their
prime.

Every horseman will acknowledge that his experience has a parallel in
the picture here presented. Many men have at various times attempted
reform, but the difficulty heretofore encountered has been that the
mechanical application was in the hands, not of the owners and
reasoners, but in those of a class of men who are, for the most part,
ignorant, prejudiced, and, consequently, apt to oppose any innovation
upon the old abuses in which they have had centuries of vested right;
and it was not until the studies of Mr. R. A. Goodenough that there were
brought to bear veterinary knowledge, mechanical skill, and inventive
faculty, to overcome the stolidity and interest which have been the
lions in the way of true reform.

CHAPTER II.

FROG PRESSURE.

That portion of the hoof called the "frog," performs the most important
visible function in the economy of the movement of the horse. It is
intensely vital and vigorous. The greater its exposure and the severer
its exertion, the more strenuous is the action of nature to renew it. It
is the spring at the immediate base of the leg, relieving the ner