Incipient Unsoundness.

Incipient Unsoundness.

Foot, showing shoe and frog.

It is almost impossible to find a horse perfectly sound in his feet, unless one looks (strange as it may seem) into the stables of the Third Avenue Railroad Company, or those of Adams' Express, or Dodd's Transfer Company, or into some of the other stables where our shoe and system are in faithful use; we will therefore call attention to such a case as will be generally presented at the forge: A good young horse, shod for several years upon the common plan, and in the early stages of contraction. We find he has on wide-web shoes, weighing about twenty ounces each; these may be smooth in front and calked behind; they bear upon the sole and heel. In place of a frog, we discover a point of hard, shrunken, cracked substance, neither frog nor sole. We cut the clenches and take off the relic of ignorance and barbarism, throwing it with hearty good-will into the only place fit to receive it the pile of scrap-iron. We examine carefully to see that no stub of nail is left in. The heels will be found long and hard. Our object being frog-pressure, to get the vivifying action of this tactile organ upon the ground, we pare down the whole wall; we soon come to signs of a corn perhaps a drop of blood starts; but as we do not intend to put the weight upon the heels, we are not alarmed. Having cut all we can from the heels and still finding that the frog, when the shoe is laid on, can not touch the ground, we knock down the last two calks and draw the heel of the shoe thin; this must give us a bearing upon the frog and the sound part of the foot. We use the lightest shoe, truly fitted with the rasp, not burned on. The horse should then be worked regularly, and he will experience at once the benefit of a return to "first principles" and natural action.

Foot, with shell removed.

A colt thus shod could not have a corn

A colt thus shod could not have a corn

A colt thus shod could not have a corn

A colt thus shod could not have a corn, for a corn is an ulcer caused by the wings of the coffin-bone pressing upon a hard, unelastic substance. When the horse raises his foot the coffin-bone is lifted upward by the action of the flexor tendon; when his foot touches the earth the weight of the animal is thrown upon the same bone, and, if unsupported by the natural cushion of the foot, the action of the bone pressing the sensitive sole upon iron causes the bruise which, for lack of another name, is called a corn. The horse thus shod would never have a quarter crack, for that is the immediate effect of contraction caused by the absence of the expanding action of the frog and the consequent dead condition of the hoof from want of circulation and proper secretions. The horse would be equally free from "drop" and "pumiced" sole, seedy toe, thrush, and kindred complaints.

How to Shoe Sound Feet.

How to Shoe Sound Feet.

If a foot came to the farrier in a perfectly normal condition, never having been subjected to the destructive process of common shoeing, the directions for putting on the Goodenough shoe would be simply, to dress the foot by paring or rasping the wall until a shoe of proper size laid upon the prepared crust would give an even bearing with the frog all over the foot; then, as the calk wore away, the pressure would come more and more upon the frog and the foot would retain its natural state during the life-time of the horse.

Goodenough shoe back.

The Calks

The Calks

Have a use fully explained.

When the shoe thus described is set so as to secure frog-pressure, as hereinafter directed, a horse may be shod without violation of nature's laws; foot disease, under fair conditions, will become almost impossible, and the useless refuse-stock, broken down by the old method, may be restored to usefulness.

Goodenough shoe back.

The Bevel of The Foot Surface

The Bevel of The Foot Surface

Is to keep the shoe a continuation of the crust or wall of the hoof, and to avoid percussion upon the sole.

The Bevel on The Ground Surface

Is to follow the natural concavity of the foot and to give it the form which will have no suction on wet ground, will not pick up mud, or retain snow-balls.

Countersinking The Nails.

Countersinking The Nails.

This is a point to which we call attention as of great importance. In shoeing a horse for light or rapid work with a common flat shoe, seven or eight nail-heads protrude, and take the force of his blow on the ground. The foot has just been pared, and those nails, driven into the wall and pressing against the soft inside horn and sensitive laminæ, vibrate to the quick, and often cause the newly-shod horse to shrink, and show soreness in traveling for a day or two. No matter how skillfully shod, the horse will be all the better in escaping this unnecessary infliction.

This calking has a double object

This calking has a double object

This calking has a double object

This calking has a double object. In the common system of shoeing, to avoid slipping in winter upon the ice, and in the cities upon the wet, slimy surface of pavement, or to assist draft, it is customary to weld a calk upon the toe of a shoe, and to turn up the heels to correspond. In this motion the horse is placed upon a tripod, his weight being entirely upon three points of his foot, and those not the parts intended to bear the shock of travel or to sustain his weight. The position of the frog is of course one of hopeless inaction, and the motion of the unsupported bones within the hoof produce inflammation at the points of extreme pressure, so that, in case of all old horses accustomed to go upon calks, there is ulceration of the heels, in the form of "corns," which the smith informs the owner is the effect of hard roads bruising the heel from the outside; he usually "cuts out the corn," and puts on more iron in the form of a "bar shoe." Or the same action which produces corns, acting upon the dead, dry, unsupported frog and sole, breaks the arch of the foot so that a "drop sole" is manifest, or "pumiced foot," for both of which a "bar shoe" is the unvarying, pernicious prescription. In the Goodenough shoe, the calks are supplied, and the weight so distributed that the objection to the old method does not exist.

Description of The Goodenough Shoe.

Description of The Goodenough Shoe.

From the representation of the shoe in the cut, its peculiar conformation will be observed, and the reason for these changes from the common form we shall endeavor to explain as clearly as possible. In the first place, it is very light, scarcely half the weight of the average old-fashioned shoe. The foot surface is rolled with a true bevel, making that portion of the web which receives the bearing of the hoof, the width of the thickness of the wall or crust. This prevents pressure upon the sole, and makes the shoe a continuation of the wall of the foot. The ground surface of the shoe has also a true bevel, following the natural slope of the sole, and bringing the inner part of the shoe to a thin edge. The outer portion is thus a thick ridge, dentated, or cut out into cogs or calks, allowing the nail-heads to be countersunk. This arrangement gives five calks a wide toe-calk, the usual heel-calks, and two calks, one on each side, midway between the toe and heel thus putting the bearing equally upon all the parts of the foot.

Not by any virtue in the iron itself

Not by any virtue in the iron itself

Not by any virtue in the iron itself

If the shoe is adopted as a cure for the unsoundness already manifested in animals that have been deprived of the proper use of their feet, it will cure them, not by any virtue in the iron itself, nor by any magic in its application, but simply by giving beneficent nature an opportunity to repair the ruin that the ignorance of man has wrought upon her perfect handiwork.

This part of our subject is so important that we shall return to it again in subsequent chapters, and enforce it at every point.

Goodenough shoe front.

Is the chief object of the system we advocate

Is the chief object of the system we advocate

Is the chief object of the system we advocate

To restore the natural action of the foot by putting the bearing on the frog, is the chief object of the system we advocate, and the Goodenough shoe is designed especially to provide for that first and last necessity. If this is accomplished with a sound horse, he will avoid the thousand ills that arise from the usual method, and, so far as his feet are concerned, he will remain sound.

In addition to this violation of nature

In addition to this violation of nature

In addition to this violation of nature

In addition to this violation of nature, they pare away the exfoliating growth of the organ, and trim it into the shape that suits their fancy.

Without action, muscular life is impossible, the portion of the body thus situated must die, paralyzed or withered. Motion, use, are the law of life, and the frog of the horse's hoof with a function as essential and well-defined as any portion of his body is subject to the general law. Without use it dries, hardens, and becomes a shelly excrescence upon a foot, benumbed by the percussion of heavy iron upon hard roads. This is a loss nature struggles in vain to repair, the horse begins to fail at once. The elastic step, which in a state of nature spurned the dull earth, becomes heavy and stiff, and the unhappy brute experiences the evils partially described in the previous chapter.

With the facility to error characteristic of the unreasoning

With the facility to error characteristic of the unreasoning

With the facility to error characteristic of the unreasoning

With the facility to error characteristic of the unreasoning, it has been one of the opinions of grooms and farriers that this callous, india-rubber-like substance would wear away upon exposure to the action of the road or pavement, and it has been one of their cherished practices to set the horse up upon iron, so that he could by no possibility strike the frog upon the ground.

Frog Pressure.

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 nervous system and joints from the shock of the concussion when the Race Horse thunders over the course, seeming in his powerful stride to shake the solid earth itself, and it gives the Trotter the elastic motion with which he sweeps over the ground noiseless upon its yielding spring, but, if shod with heavy iron, so that the frog does not reach the ground to perform its function, his hoofs beat the earth with a force like the hammers of the Cyclops.

In what is known as quarter or toe crack

In what is known as quarter or toe crack

In what is known as quarter or toe crack

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.

The action of the frog upon the ground

The action of the frog upon the ground

The action of the frog upon the ground

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.

Evils of Common Shoeing.

Evils of Common Shoeing.

Every horseman finds his chief difficulty in the fact that he has to protect the natural foot from the wear incident to the artificial condition in which the horse is placed in his relation to man. In those important industries where great numbers of horses are used, and the profit of the business depends upon the efficiency of the animal, the question becomes a very serious one, and the life term of the horse, or the proportion of the number of animals that are kept from their tasks by inability, make the difference between profit and loss to the great transportation lines that facilitate the busy current of city life. But notwithstanding the importance of this subject, upon the score equally of economy and humanity, the world is, for the most part, just where it was a thousand years ago, possibly worse off, for the original purpose of shoeing was only to protect the foot from attrition or chipping, and but little iron was used, but, as the utility of the operation became apparent, the smith boldly took the responsibility of altering the form of the hoof to suit his own unreasoning views, cutting away, as superfluous, the sole and bars, 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.

And when relieved from the abuses of ignorance

And when relieved from the abuses of ignorance

And when relieved from the abuses of ignorance

How quickly his active system responds to intelligent care and shows its beneficial results! And when relieved from the abuses of ignorance, his recuperative powers re-establish the springing step of youth.

Whether where equinoctial fervors glow Or winter

Whether where equinoctial fervors glow Or winter

Whether where equinoctial fervors glow Or winter

"Whether where equinoctial fervors glow
Or winter wraps the polar world in snow."

Amid the sands of Arabia his thin hide and fine hair evidence his breeding; in the frozen north his shaggy covering defends him from the cold storms and searching winds. The disadvantages under which he will work are in no way so clearly illustrated as in his efficiency when exposed to the evils of shoeing. Placed upon heel-calks, to slip about and catch with wrenching force in the interstices of city pavements, or loaded with iron-clogs, to give him "knee-action" and to "untie his shoulders," he bravely faces his discomforts and does to the best of his ability his master's will.

Sound Horses.

Sound Horses.

A sound horse is, after man, the paragon of animals. "In form and moving how express and admirable!" His frame is perfect mechanism, instinct with glowing life, and guarded by the great conservative and healing powers of nature from disease and death. His vitality is surpassed by that of man, because man has the endowment of soul, and in his human breast hope springs eternal and imagination gives fresh powers of resistance. Like man, the horse conforms cheerfully to all climates and to all circumstances. He is equally at home

Under the artificial restraints of the horse

Under the artificial restraints of the horse

Under the artificial restraints of the horse

We wish to be understood that in all things we would assist and facilitate the action of nature, under the artificial restraints of the horse. If we fail in this, or offer obstruction, our occupation is gone. The world has no time to listen to our theory, no use for our practice. And we hope that the thoughtful readers of these pages will see in our intention, an earnest, honest purpose and belief, and that, without affectation of science or pretense of superior knowledge, we base all our efforts upon nature and common sense.

In following our instructions and attempting to use our method, have patience, and note the result from day to day. The horse will quickly tell you. His action will expose quackery and unmask pretension. He will be no party to a fraud, no advocate of an advertisement.

When they are adverse in application

When they are adverse in application

When they are adverse in application

When the measures and processes of the physician are in harmony with the natural intention, disease may be cured; when they are adverse in application, the patient dies, or recovers in spite of art.

A great French philosopher powerfully remarked: "Nature fights with disease a battle to the death; a blind man armed with a club that is, a physician comes in to make peace between them. Failing in that, he lays about him with his club. If he happens to hit disease he kills disease; if he hits nature he kills nature."

And can only be escaped by restoring natural conditions

And can only be escaped by restoring natural conditions

And can only be escaped by restoring natural conditions

Remember always that pain is the warning cry of a faithful sentinel on the outpost, that disease is at hand. Disease is the punishment following a violation of the laws of nature, and can only be escaped by restoring natural conditions.

Remember also, that "Nature," so called by Hippocrates, the earliest systematic writer upon medicine, never slumbers nor fails in duty, but strives with unerring, active intelligence to prevent disease, or to cure it when it can not be prevented.

Telling with mute but touching eloquence of his tight-ironed

Telling with mute but touching eloquence of his tight-ironed

Telling with mute but touching eloquence of his tight-ironed

Men are careless and, as a rule, unobservant; they go on in the old way until the horse flinches in action or stands "pointing" in dumb appeal to his owner, telling with mute but touching eloquence of his tight-ironed, feverish foot, the dead frog, and the insidious disease, soon to destroy the free action characteristic of health. It is when this evidence brings the truth home to him that the neglectful master, eager to relieve the animal, tries our system. To such masters we must say, do not expect that the imprudence and neglect of years can be remedied in an instant. The age of miracles long ago passed away. We do not propose to cure by formula, or bell and book. There is no "laying on of hands" no magical touch of an enchanter's wand.

General Observations.

General Observations.

The first application of the Goodenough shoe is almost invariably to the feet of horses suffering from some one of the forms of foot disease, induced by the unnatural method of shoeing. Our system is intended for sound horses, to supply the necessary protection to the feet, and to keep them in a healthy condition. Our rules for shoeing, embodied in our circular of instructions, are applicable to sound horses, and disease must be provided for as exceptional.

Rational Horse-Shoeing, by John E. Russell - Prefix.

Rational Horse-Shoeing, by John E. Russell - Prefix.

Since the publication of this little volume we have made changes in our horse shoe with a view to adapt it especially to Army use. Our design has been to make a shoe that any Army farrier can apply in a cold state without the use of any other tool than a knife to prepare the hoof, and a hammer to drive the nails. Our success in this attempt has been so complete that we are now using the pattern designed especially for Army use in all our contract work.

The shoe is rolled without a heel calk, so that the frog-pressure may be readily secured without heating and drawing the iron: the nail holes are punched so that the nail furnished by us with the shoe may be driven, without the use of the pritchel to punch out the holes. The shoe, being made of the best quality of iron, may be bent cold to adapt it to the shape of the hoof.

Officers will at once see what a vast saving there is in the transportation of shoes requiring no forge with its heavy outfit and which are less than half the weight of the clumsy old patterns.

Sarsaparilla Syrup.

Sarsaparilla Syrup.

One ounce Sarsaparilla, two pounds brown sugar, ten drops wintergreen, and half pint of water.

Introduction. Owners of horses.

In presenting the observations contained in the following pages, we are aware that we appeal to practical men who judge by results, and have but slight patience with mere theory. We wish, therefore, to state clearly at the outset, that the system of horse-shoeing herein advocated, and the shoe offered by us to accompany it and accomplish its purpose, are the result of years of patient study of nature, and actual experiment; and that although we have had to contend with ignorance and interest on the part of the farriers, and indifference and prejudice on the part of owners of horses, we have finally succeeded in interesting the most practical and capable men in America, England, and France in the matter; and, at the time of this publication, thousands of horses, engaged in the most arduous labors of equine life upon railways, express wagons, transfer companies, and other similar difficult positions are traveling upon our shoes, their labors lightened by its assistance, their feet preserved in a natural, healthy state, and their lives prolonged to the profit of their owners and the advancement of that cause one of the evidences of the progress of our age in true enlightenment which has for its beneficent object the prevention of cruelty to the dumb and helpless companions of our toil.

Temperance Beverage.

Temperance Beverage.

One quart of water, three pounds of sugar, one teaspoonful of lemon oil, one table-spoonful of flour, with the white of four eggs, well beat up. Mix the above well together, then divide the syrup, and add four ounces of carbonic soda in one-half, and three ounces of tartaric acid in the other half; then bottle for use.

Receipt For Bone Spavin or Ring-bone.

Receipt For Bone Spavin or Ring-bone.

Take a table-spoonful of corrosive sublimate; quicksilver about the size of a bean; 3 or 4 drops of muriatic acid; iodine about the size of a pea, and lard enough to form a paste; grind the iodine and sublimate fine as flour, and put altogether in a cup, mix well, then shear the hair all off the size you want; wash clean with soap-suds, rub dry, then apply the medicine. Let it stay on five days; if it does not take effect, take it off, mix it over with a little more lard, and add some fresh medicine. When the lump comes out, wash it clean in soap-suds, then apply a poultice of cow dung, leave it on twelve hours, then apply healing medicine.

Cure for the Founder. Linseed Oil.

Cure for the Founder. Linseed Oil.

Cure for the Founder.

Cure for the Founder. Let 1-1/2 gallons of blood from the neck vein, make frequent applications of hot water to his forelegs; after which, bathe them in wet cloths, then give one quart Linseed Oil. The horse will be ready for service the next day.

Botts. Mix one pint honey with one quart sweet milk, give as a drench, one hour after, dissolve 1 oz. pulverized Coperas in a pint of water, use likewise, then give one quart of Linseed Oil. Cure effectual.

Colic. After bleeding copiously in the mouth, take a half pound of raw cotton, wrap it around a coal of fire in such a way as to exclude the air; when it begins to smoke, hold it under the horse's nose until he becomes easy. Cure certain in ten minutes.

Distemper. Take 1-1/2 gallons blood from the neck vein, then give a dose of Sassafras Oil, 1-1/2 ounces is sufficient. Cure speedy and certain.

Fistula. When it makes its appearance, rowel both sides of the shoulder; if it should break, take one ounce of verdigris, 1 ounce oil rosin, 1 ounce copperas, pulverize and mix together. Use it as a salve.

Indication of a Horse's Disposition.

Indication of a Horse's Disposition.

A long, thin neck indicates a good disposition, contrariwise, if it be short and thick. A broad forehead, high between the ears, indicates a very vicious disposition.