A Handbook of Horse-Shoeing with Introductory Chapters on the Anatomy and Physiology of the Horse's Foot

A. W. Dollar

Description

"A Handbook of Horse-Shoeing" is a detailed guide to horseshoeing, with chapters on history, anatomy, determining common ailments, curing them, treating them, prevention, etc. With wonderful illustrations and a wealth of timeless, practical information, this is a volume that will be of considerable utility to modern horse owners. Contents include: "The Structure and Functions of the Foot", "The Structure of the Foot", "General Remarks on the Horses Foot", "The Bones of the Foot", "The Lower end of the Great Metacarpus", "The Suffraginis bone of First Phalanx", "The Pedal Bone of Third Phalanx", "The Navicular Bone", etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in a modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on maintaining and caring for horses.

Sujets

• Horse care
• Ironwork
• Farrier
• Blacksmith

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 16 octobre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528766333
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

A HANDBOOK OF
HORSE-SHOEING
WITH
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS
ON THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE
HORSE S FOOT
BY
JNO. A. W. DOLLAR, M.R.C.V.S.
EDITOR AND TRANSLATOR OF M LLER S VETERINARY SURGERY. AUTHOR OF AN ATLAS OF VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS, ETC.
WITH THE COLLABORATION OF
ALBERT WHEATLEY, F.R.C.V.S.
Copyright 2013 Read Books Ltd.
This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Horses - Care and Maintenance
The horse ( Equus ferus caballus ) is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus . It is an odd-toed ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae . The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today. Humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. We, as humans have interacted with horses in a multitude of ways throughout history - from sport competitions and non-competitive recreational pursuits, to working activities such as police work, agriculture, entertainment and therapy. Horses have also been used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and driving techniques developed, using many different styles of equipment and methods of control. With this range of uses in mind, there is an equally extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colours, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behaviour.
Looking after horses is a time consuming, as well as moderately expensive task - only to be embarked upon seriously. Horses can consume approximately 2% to 2.5% of their body weight in dry feed each day. Therefore, a 450-kilogram (990 lb) adult horse could eat up to 11 kilograms (24 lb) of food! Sometimes, concentrated feed such as grain is fed in addition to pasture or hay, especially when the animal is very active. In practical terms, horses prefer to eat small amounts of food steadily throughout the day, as they do in nature when grazing on pasture. Although this is not always possible with modern stabling practices and human schedules that favour feeding horses twice a day, it is important to remember the underlying biology of the animal when determining what to feed, how often, and in what quantities.
Aside from these more basic requirements - food (and water), horse grooming; the hygienic care given to a horse, is a very important practice. Grooming is an important part of basic horse care, essential for horses used in competition. Regular grooming helps to ensure the horse is healthy and comfortable. At a minimum, horses are generally groomed before being worked, and are usually groomed and cleaned up after a workout as well. This helps improve the health of the skin and coat, decreases the chance of health problems such as thrush, scratches and chaffing - as well as giving the groom a change to check the horse s health, such as looking for cuts, heat, swelling, lameness or a change in temperament (such as depression) which could indicate the horse is sick. Importantly, it also helps form a relationship between horse and handler, which can carry over to other handling duties and riding. Horse showmanship is a horse show class that considers quality of grooming for as much as 40% of the total score.
Important aspects of grooming are hair trimming and clipping - variable by breed, region and discipline. Severely incorrect clipping is often considered a great faux pas in the horse world.
Common forms are bridle path clipping; where a section of mane, just behind the ears, is frequently clipped or shaved off. This allows the bridle to lie comfortably on the across the poll, and makes it slightly easier to bridle the horse, as the mane and forelock are separated and easier to keep out of the way. Fetlocks can also collect undesired amounts of mud, dirt, and burrs - and may be trimmed for practical reasons. The back of the lower cannon (leg) is also commonly clipped, also to remove long hairs. For a truly polished look, the coronet band (top of the hoof) is clipped to shorten the small straggling hairs that grow along the edges. In addition to basic trimming, many horses are body clipped in the winter months, to remove their winter coat. This can serve a practical purpose, as it keeps the horse more comfortable during work, and helps it cool down faster, as well as an aesthetic one. The same reasoning lies behind clipping the mane and the tail; at its most basic, brushing out foreign materials and tangles - yet for competitions, far more extensive grooming is common place.
An aspect as yet unmentioned, though especially important, is hoof care. Although many horses are quite healthy without daily brushing, lack of hoof care can result in various problems, which if unattended, can result in short or long-term soundness issues for the horse. Hooves need to be trimmed after four to ten weeks; otherwise they will grow too long and cause discomfort. The most basic form of hoof care is cleaning, or picking out the feet. A hoof pick is used to remove mud, manure, and rocks from the sole of the hoof - thus preventing thrush and stone bruises.
If the horse was not trained to pick up its foot when a person runs their hand to the fetlock and lifts lightly, most horses will pick up their feet if the tendons behind their cannon bone are squeezed. Most horse management guidelines recommend picking the feet daily, and in many cases, the feet are picked twice in one day, both before and after a ride. Hoofs can also be dressed and polished; dressing improves moisture content, in turn preventing hoof cracks, tender feet and lost shoes whilst polish is generally used for show purposes.
As a concluding note, farriers , the people who will carry out much of this work, are incredibly important, with an interesting history. Farriers have largely replaced blacksmiths (after this specialism mostly became redundant after the industrial revolution), and are highly skilled in both metalwork and horse anatomy. Historically, the jobs of farrier and blacksmith were practically synonymous, shown by the etymology of the word: farrier comes from Middle French ferrier (blacksmith), and from the Latin word ferrum (iron). Modern day farriers usually specialize in horseshoeing though, focusing their time and effort on the care of the horse s hoof, including trimming and balancing of the hoof, as well as the placing of the shoes. Additional tasks for the farrier include dealing with injured or diseased hooves and application of special shoes for racing, training or cosmetic purposes. In countries such as the United Kingdom, it is illegal for people other than registered farriers to call themselves a farrier or to carry out any farriery work, the primary aim being to prevent and avoid suffering by and cruelty to horses arising from the shoeing of horses by unskilled persons. This is not the case in all countries however, where horse protection is severely lacking.
We hope the reader enjoys this book.
PREFACE.
T HE friendly reception accorded to previous efforts encouraged the hope that a volume dealing with that less studied though scarcely less useful subject, Horse-shoeing, might find similar acceptance. To provide material, all the best known German, French, and Italian treatises have been ransacked, the leading English works referred to, and the information thus gained collated. Without any intention of disparaging the labors of other authors, the writer feels bound to confess that he has found no work of more practical and scientific value than Leisering-Hartmann s masterly Handbook, Der Fuss des Pferdes; which, though in a much modified form, and with the addition of a large amount of new matter, has been adopted as the model and substantial basis for the present volume. Other sources of information are indicated in the Bibliography hereto attached.
The first nineteen pages, on the history of Horse-shoeing, have been translated, with little alteration, from Leisering-Hartmann. In the section devoted to the Anatomy of the Foot, Professor Mettam has kindly contributed pages 61 to 65 , and fig. 66 on page 106 . The part dealing with practical Horse-shoeing has been almost entirely re-written, while many additions drawn from the writer s own experience or from Continental literature have been made in order to adapt the book to the requirements of English readers.
To Mr. Albert Wheatley is due one of the chief features of the book, viz., the large-sized blocks of horse-shoes printed on separate sheets, and the descriptions accompanying them. The engraving of these has occupied considerably longer time than was at first anticipated, but the important character of the added matter fully compensates for any delay, and must be held as largely contributing to whatever degree of success the book may eventually attain. To the pains Mr. Wheatley has taken in superintending the preparation of both shoes and illustrations, the enthusiasm he has exhibited in the work now completed, and the personal kindness he has at all times shown, the writer cordially testifies.
Messrs. Sch nefeld of Dresden have kindly permitted the use of the majority of the wood-cuts, and Messrs. Phipson Warden, iron merchants, etc., Birmingham, have accorded a similar privilege in respect of the illustrations marked with an asterisk.
To Professor M Queen, of the Royal Veterinary College, London, who rendered such valued service during the publication of the work on Veterinary Surgery, the writer has once more the sincere pleasure of tendering his thanks,