SHOE

SHOE, a covering for the foot, usually of leather. Its structure, though the object of a particular art, is too popular to need explaining. See CORDWAINER.

Its history is more obscure. Bened. Baudoin, a shoemaker by profession, has a learned treatise of the ancient shoe, De solea veterum; where the origin, matter, form, &c. thereof, are particularly inquired into.—Baudoin maintains, that God, in giving Adam skins of beasts to clothe him, did not leave him to go barefooted, but gave him shoes of the same matter. That after raw skins, men came to make their shoes of rushes, broom, paper, flax, silk, wood, iron, silver, and gold: so different has their matter been.—Nor was their form more stable, with regard either to the shape, colour, or ornaments: they have been square, high, low, long, and quite even, cut, carved, &c.

Pliny, lib. vii. c. 56, tells us, that one Tychius of Bæotia was the first who used shoes.—M. Nilant, in his remarks upon Baudoin, observes, that he quotes Xenophon in vain, to show that even in his time they still wore shoes of raw skins. Xenophon relates, that the 10,000 Greeks who had followed the young Cyrus, wanting shoes in their retreat, were forced to cover their feet with raw skins, which occasioned them great inconveniences. Nilant will not even allow that the shoes of the country-people, called carbatine and peronee, were of crude skin, without any preparation.

The patricians among the Romans wore an ivory crescent on their shoes. Hellogabalus had his shoes covered over with a very white linen; in conformity to the priests of the sun, for whom he professed a very high veneration: this kind of shoe was called us, ads, or ads. Caligula wore shoes enriched with precious stones. The Indians, like the Egyptians, wore shoes made of the bark of the papyrus. The Turks put off their shoes, and leave them at the doors of their mosques.

SHOE of an Anchor, a small block of wood, convex on the back, and having a small hole, sufficient to contain the point of the anchor-fluke, on the fore-side. It is used to prevent the anchor from tearing or wounding the planks on the ship's bow, when ascending or descending; for which purpose the shoe slides up and down along the bow, between the fluke of the anchor and the planks, as being pressed close to the latter by the weight of the former.

To SHOE an Anchor, is to cover the flukes with a broad triangular piece of plank, whose area or superficies

ficies is much larger than that of the flukes. It is intended to give the anchor a stronger and surer hold of the bottom in very soft and oozy ground.

Horse-Shoe, a plate of iron, of a certain form, nailed to the feet of horses, to defend and preserve the hoof.

As feet differ, so should shoes accordingly. "The only system of farriers, (Lord Pembroke observes), is to shoe in general with excessive heavy and clumsy ill-shaped shoes, and very many nails, to the total destruction of the foot. The cramps they annex, tend to destroy the bullet; and the shoes made in the shape of a walnut-shell prevent the horse's walking upon the firm basis which God has given him for that end, and thereby oblige him to stumble and fall. They totally pare away also and lay bare the inside of the animal's foot with their detestable butteris, and afterwards put on very long shoes, whereby the foot is hindered from having any pressure at all upon the heels, which pressure otherwise might still perchance, notwithstanding their dreadful cutting, keep the heels properly open, and the foot in good order. The frog should never be cut out; but as it will sometimes become ragged, it must be cleaned every now and then, and the ragged pieces pared off with a knife. In one kind of foot indeed a considerable cutting away must be allowed of, but not of the frog: we mean, that very high feet must be cut down to a proper height; because, if they were not, the frog, though not cut, would still be so far above the ground, as not to have any bearing on it, whereby the great tendon must inevitably be damaged, and consequently the horse would go lame.

"The weight of shoes must greatly depend on the quality and hardness of the iron. If the iron be very good, it will not bend; and in this case the shoes cannot possibly be made too light: care, however, must be taken, that they be of a thickness so as not to bend; for bending would force out the nails, and ruin the hoof. That part of the shoe which is next the horse's heel, must be narrower than any other, (as is seen in the draught, Plate CCLXVII. fig. 1.) that stones may be thereby prevented from getting under it, and sticking there: which otherwise would be the case; because the iron, when it advances inwardly beyond the bearing of the foot, forms a cavity, wherein stones being lodged would remain, and, by pressing against the foot, lame the horse. The part of the shoe which the horse walks upon should be quite flat, and the inside of it likewise; only just space enough being left next the foot, to put in a picker, (which ought to be used every time the horse comes into the stable), and also to prevent the shoe's pressing upon the sole. Four nails on each side hold better than a greater number, and keep the hoof in a far better state. The toe of the horse must be cut short, and nearly square, (the angles only just rounded off), nor must any nails be driven there; this method prevents much stumbling, especially in descents, and serves, by throwing nourishment to the heels, to strengthen them; on them the horse should in some measure walk, and the shoe be made of a proper length accordingly; by this means, narrow heels are prevented, and many other good effects produced. Many people drive a nail at the toe, but it is an absurd practice. Leaving room to drive one there causes the foot to be of an improper length; and moreover, that part of the hoof is naturally so brittle, that even when it is

kept well greased, the nail there seldom stays in, but tears out and damages the hoof. That the directions for shoeing a proper length may be the more clear and intelligible, we have annexed (Plate CCLXVII.) a draught of a foot shod a proper length standing on a plain surface, and with it a draught of the right kind of shoe.

"In wet, spungy, and soft ground, where the foot sinks in, the pressure upon the heels is of course greater than on hard ground; and so indeed it should be upon all accounts. The hinder-feet must be treated in the same manner as the fore-ones; and the shoes the same: except in hilly and slippery countries, they may not improperly be turned up a little behind: but turning up the fore-shoes is of no service, and is certain ruin to the fore-legs, especially to the bullets. In descending hills, cramps are apt to throw horses down, by stopping the fore-legs, out of their proper basis and natural bearing, when the hinder ones are rapidly pressed; which unavoidably must be the case, and consequently cannot but push the horse upon his nose. With them on a plain surface, a horse's foot is always thrown forwards on the toe, out of its proper bearing, which is very liable to make the horse stumble. The notion of their utility in going up hills is a false one. In ascending, the toe is the first part of the foot which bears on, takes hold of the ground, and whether the horse draws or carries, consequently the business is done before the part where the cramps are comes to the ground. Ice-nails are preferable to any thing to prevent slipping, as also to help horses up hill, the most forward ones taking hold of the ground early, considerably before the heels touch the ground: they must be so made, as to be, when driven in, scarce half an inch above the shoe, and also have four sides ending at the top in a point. They are of great service to prevent slipping on all kinds of places; and by means of them a horse is not thrown out of his proper basis. They must be made of very good iron; if they are not, the heads of them will be perpetually breaking off. From the race-horse to the cart-horse, the same system of shoeing should be observed. The size, thickness, and weight of them only should differ. The shoe of a race-horse must of course be lighter than that of a saddle-horse; that of a saddle-horse lighter than that of a coach or bat horse; and these last more so than a cart, waggon, or artillery horse. At present all shoes in general are too heavy; if the iron is good, shoes need not be so thick as they are now generally made.—The utmost severity ought to be inflicted upon all those who clap shoes on hot: this unpardonable laziness of farriers in making feet thus fit shoes, instead of shoes fitting feet, dries up the hoof, and utterly destroys them. Frequent removals of shoes are detrimental, and tear the foot; but sometimes they are very necessary: this is an inconvenience which half-shoes are liable to; for the end of the shoe, being very short, is apt to work soon into the foot, and consequently must then be moved."

In a late treatise on this subject by Mr Clark of Edinburgh, the common form of shoes, and method of shoeing, are, with great appearance of reason, totally condemned, and a new form and method recommended, which seem founded on rational principles, and to have been confirmed by experience.

Common method. "In preparing the foot for the shoe,

Shoeing of shoe, our author observes, the frog, the sole, and the bars or binders, are pared so much that the blood frequently appears. The shoe by its form (being thick on the inside of the rim, and thin upon the outside †),

must of consequence be made concave or hollow on that side which is placed immediately next the foot, in order to prevent its resting upon the sole. The shoes are generally of an immoderate weight and length, and every means is used to prevent the frog from resting upon the ground, by making the shoe-heels thick, broad, and strong, or raising cramps or caukers on them.

“ From this form of the shoe, and from this method of treating the hoof, the frog is raised to a considerable height above the ground, the heels are deprived of that substance which was provided by nature to keep the crust extended at a proper wideness, and the foot is fixed as it were in a mould.

“ By the pressure from the weight of the body, and resistance from the outer edges of the shoe, the heels are forced together, and retain that shape impressed upon them, which it is impossible ever afterwards to remove; hence a contraction of the heels, and of course lameness. But farther,

“ The heels, as has been observed, being forced together, the crust presses upon the processes of the coffin and extremities of the nut-bone: The frog is confined, and raised so far from the ground, that it cannot have that support upon it which it ought to have: the circulation of the blood is impeded, and a wasting of the frog, and frequently of the whole foot, ensues. Hence proceed all those diseases of the feet, known by the names of foundered, hoof-bound, narrow-heels, running thrushes, corns, high soles, &c.

“ I have likewise frequently observed, from this compression of the internal parts of the foot, a swelling of the legs immediately above the hoof, attended with great pain and inflammation, with a discharge of thin, ichorous, fetid matter: from which symptoms, it is often concluded, that the horse is in a bad habit of body, (or what is termed a grease falling down), and must therefore undergo a course of medicine, &c.

“ The bad effects of this practice are still more obvious upon the external parts of the hoof. The crust toward the toe, being the only part of the hoof free from compression, enjoys a free circulation of that fluid necessary for its nourishment, and grows broader and longer; from which extraordinary length of toe, the horse stumbles in his going, and cuts his legs. The smaller particles of sand insinuate themselves between the shoe and the heels, which grind them away, and thereby produce lameness. All this is entirely owing to the great spring the heels of the horse must unavoidably have upon the heels of a shoe made in this form.

“ This concave shoe in time wears thin at the toe, and, yielding to the pressure made upon it, is forced wider, and of consequence breaks off all that part of the crust on the outside of the nails. Instances of this kind daily occur, inasmuch that there hardly remains crust sufficient to fix a shoe upon.

“ It is generally thought, that the broader a shoe is, and the more it covers the sole and frog, a horse will travel the better. But, as has been formerly remarked, the broader a shoe is of this form, it must be

made the more concave; and, of consequence, the contracting power upon the heels must be the greater.

It is likewise to be observed, that, by using strong broad-rimmed concave shoes in the summer-season, when the weather is hot and the roads very dry and hard, if a horse is obliged to ride fast, the shoes, by repeated strokes (or friction) against the ground, acquire a great degree of heat, which is communicated to the internal parts of the foot; and, together with the contraction upon the heels occasioned by the form of the shoe, must certainly cause exquisite pain. This is frequently succeeded by a violent inflammation in the internal parts of the hoof, and is the cause of that disease in the feet so fatal to the very best of our horses, commonly termed a founder. This is also the reason why horses, after a journey or a hard ride, are observed to shift their feet so frequently, and to lie down much.

“ If we attend further to the convex surface of this shoe, and the convexity of the pavement upon which horses walk, it will then be evident, that it is impossible for them to keep their feet from slipping in this form of shoe, especially upon declivities of streets.

“ It is also a common practice, especially in this place, to turn up the heels of the shoes into what is called cramps or caukers, by which means the weight of the horse is confined to a very narrow surface, viz. the inner round edge of the shoe-rim and the points or caukers of each heel, which soon wear round and blunt; besides, they for the most part are made by far too thick and long. The consequence is, that it throws the horse forward upon the toes, and is apt to make him slip and stumble. To this cause we must likewise ascribe the frequent and sudden lameness horses are subject to in the legs, by twisting the ligaments of the joints, tendons, &c.

“ I do not affirm, that caukers are always hurtful, and ought to be laid aside: On the contrary, I grant, that they, or some such like contrivance, are extremely necessary, and may be used with advantage upon flat shoes where the ground is slippery; but they should be made thinner and sharper than those commonly used, so as to sink into the ground, otherwise they will rather be hurtful than of any advantage.

“ The Chinese are said to account a small foot an ornament in their women, and for that purpose, when young, their feet are confined in small shoes. This no doubt produces the desired effect; but must necessarily be very prejudicial to them in walking, and apt to render them entirely lame.

“ This practice, however, very much resembles our manner of shoeing horses: for, if we looked upon it as an advantage to them to have long feet, with narrow low heels, and supposing we observed no inconvenience to attend it, or bad consequence to follow it, we could not possibly use a more effectual means to bring it about, than by following the method already described.

“ In shoeing a horse, therefore, we should in this, as in every other case, study to follow nature: and certainly that shoe which is made of such a form as to resemble as near as possible the natural tread and shape of the foot, must be preferable to any other.

“ But it is extremely difficult to lay down fixed rules with respect to the proper method to be obser-

ved in treating the hoofs of different horses: it is equally difficult to lay down any certain rule for determining the precise form to be given their shoes. This will be obvious to every judicious practitioner, from the various constructions of their feet, from disease, and from other causes that may occur; so that a great deal must depend upon the discretion and judgment of the operator, in proportioning the shoe to the foot, by imitating the natural tread, to prevent the hoof from contracting a bad shape.

"In order, therefore, to give some general idea of what may be thought most necessary in this matter, I shall endeavour to describe that form of shoe and method of treating the hoofs of horses, which from experience I have found most beneficial.

"Proper Method. It is to be remembered, that a horse's shoe ought by no means to rest upon the sole, otherwise it will occasion lameness; therefore it must rest entirely on the crust: and, in order that we may imitate the natural tread of the foot, the shoe must be made flat, (if the height of the sole does not forbid it); it must be of an equal thickness all around the outside of the rim (A); and on that part of it which is to be placed immediately next the foot, a narrow rim or margin is to be formed, not exceeding the breadth of the crust upon which it is to rest, with the nail-holes placed exactly in the middle; and from this narrow rim the shoe is to be made gradually thinner towards its inner edge. See fig. 5.

"The breadth of the shoe is to be regulated by the size of the foot, and the work to which the horse is accustomed: but, in general, it should be made rather broad at the toe, and narrow towards the extremity of each heel, in order to let the frog rest with freedom upon the ground. The necessity of this has been already shown.

"The shoe being thus formed and shaped like the foot, the surface of the crust is to be made smooth, and the shoe fixed on with eight or at most ten nails, the heads of which should be sunk into the holes, so as to be equal with the surface of the shoe. The sole, frog, and bars, as I have already observed, should never be pared, farther than taking off what is ragged from the frog, and any excrescences or inequalities from the sole. And it is very properly remarked by Mr Olmer, "That the shoe should be made so as to stand a little wider at the extremity of each heel, than the foot itself: otherwise, as the foot grows in length, the heel of the shoe in a short time gets within the heel of the horse; which pressure often breaks the crust, and produces a temporary lameness, perhaps a corn."

"This method of shoeing horses I have followed long before Mr Olmer's treatise on that subject was published; and for these several years past I have endeavoured to introduce it into practice.

"But so much are farriers, groomers, &c. prejudiced in favour of the common method of shoeing and paring out the feet, that it is with difficulty they can even be prevailed upon to make a proper trial of it.

"They cannot be satisfied unless the frog be finely shaped, the sole pared, and the bars cut out, in order to make the heels appear wide (B). This practice gives them a show of wideness for the time; yet that, toge-

ther with the concave form of the shoe, forwards the Shoeing contraction of the heels, which, when confirmed, renders the animal lame for life. Shoeing
Horse

"In this flat form of shoe, its thickest part is upon the outside of the rim, where it is most exposed to be worn; and being made gradually thinner towards its inner edge, it is therefore much lighter than the common concave shoe: yet it will last equally as long, and with more advantage to the hoof; and as the frog or heel is allowed to rest upon the ground, the foot enjoys the same points of support as in its natural state. It must therefore be much easier for the horse in his way of going, and be a means of making him sure-footed. It is likewise evident, that, from this shoe, the hoof cannot acquire any bad form; when, at the same time, it receives every advantage that possibly could be expected from shoeing. In this respect it may very properly be said, that we make the shoe to the foot, and not the foot to the shoe, as is but too much the case in the concave shoes, where the foot very much resembles that of a cat's fixed into a walnut shell.

"It is to be observed, that the hoofs of young horses, before they are shod, for the most part are wide and open at the heels, and that the crust is sufficiently thick and strong to admit of the nails being fixed very near the extremities of each. But, as I have formerly remarked, from the constant use of concave shoes, the crust of this part of the foot grows thinner and weaker; and when the nails are fixed too far back, especially upon the inside, the horse becomes lame: to avoid this, they are placed more towards the fore-part of the hoof. This causes the heels of the horse to have the greater spring upon the heels of the shoe, which is so very detrimental as to occasion lameness; whereas, by using this flat form of shoe, all these inconveniences are avoided; and if the hoofs of young horses, from the first time that they were shod, were continued to be constantly treated according to the method here recommended, the heels would always retain their natural strength and shape.

"By following this flat method of shoeing, and manner of treating the hoofs, several horses now under my care, that were formerly tender-footed, and frequently lame, while shod with broad concave shoes, are now quite sound, and their hoofs in as good condition as when the first shoes were put upon them: In particular, the horse that wore the broad concave shoes, from which the drawings of fig. 2. and 3. were taken, now goes perfectly sound in the open narrow kind of shoes, as represented fig. 4. 5.

"If farriers considered attentively the design of shoeing horses, and would take pains to make themselves acquainted with the anatomical structure of the foot, they would then be convinced, that this method of treating the hoofs, and that this form of shoe, is preferable to that which is so generally practiced.

"It has been alleged, that in this form of shoe horses do not go so well as in that commonly used. This objection will easily be laid aside, by attending to the following particulars. There are but few practitioners that can or will endeavour to make this sort of shoe as it ought to be. The iron, in forming it, does

Shoeing of Horses. does not so easily turn into the circular shape necessary as in the common shoe; and perhaps this is the principal reason why farriers object to it, especially where they work much by the piece. And as many horses that are commonly shod with concave shoes have their soles considerably higher than the crust, if the shoe is not properly formed, or if it is made too flat, it must unavoidably rest upon the sole, and occasion lameness.

“The practice of paring the sole and frog is also so prevalent, and thought to absolutely necessary, that it is indiscriminately practised, even to excess, on all kinds of feet: And while this method continues to be followed, it cannot be expected that horses can go upon hard ground (on this open shoe) with that freedom they would do if their soles and frogs were allowed to remain in their full natural strength.

“Experience teaches us, that, in very thin-soled shoes, we feel an acute pain from every sharp-pointed stone we happen to tread upon. Horses are sensible of the same thing in their feet, when their soles, &c. are pared too thin. Hence they who are prejudiced against this method, without ever reflecting upon the thin state of the sole, &c. are apt to condemn it, and draw their conclusions more from outward appearances than from any reasoning or knowledge of the structure of the parts. From a due attention likewise to the structure of a horse's foot in a natural state, it will be obvious, that paring away the sole, frog, &c. must be hurtful, and in reality is destroying that substance provided by nature for the defence of the internal parts of the foot: From such practice it must be more liable to accidents from hard bodies, such as sharp stones, nails, glass, &c. From this consideration, we will likewise find, that a narrow piece of iron, adapted to the shape and size of the foot, is the only thing necessary to protect the crust from breaking or wearing away; the sole, &c. requiring no defence if never pared.

“There is one observation I would farther make, which is, that the shoe should be made of good iron, well worked, or what smiths call hammer-hardened, that is, beat all over lightly with a hammer when almost cold. The Spaniards and Portuguese farriers use this practice greatly, inasmuch that many people, who have seen them at work, have reported, that they form their horses shoes without heating them in the fire as we do. It is well known, that heating of iron till it is red softens it greatly; and when shoes thus softened are put upon horses feet, they wear away like lead. But when the shoes are well hammered, the iron becomes more compact, firm, and hard; so that a well-hammered shoe, though made considerably lighter, yet will last as long as one that is made heavier; the advantage of which is obvious, as the horse will move his feet with more activity, and be in less danger of cutting his legs.

“The common concave shoes are very faulty in this respect; for, in fitting or shaping them to the foot, they require to be frequently heated, in order to make them bend to the unequal surface which the hoof acquires from the constant use of these shoes: they thereby become soft; and to attempt to harden them by heating or hammering when they are shaped to the foot, would undo the whole. But flat shoes, by making them, when heated, a little narrower than the foot, will, by means of hammering, become wider, and acquire a degree of elasticity and firmness which

it is necessary they should have, but impossible to be given them by any other means whatever; so that any farrier, from practice, will soon be able to judge, from the quality of the iron, how much a shoe, in fitting it to the circumference of the hoof, will stretch by hammering when it is almost cold: this operation, in fitting flat shoes, will be the less difficult, especially when it is considered, that as there are no inequalities on the surface of the hoof (or at least ought not to be) which require to be bended thereto, shoes of this kind only require to be made smooth and flat; hence they will press equally upon the circumference or crust of the hoof, which is the natural tread of a horse.”