e.
It is as necessary to the heel of the animal, to guard him against
lateral motion, on which the whole of the above structure depends, as
the toes are to the human being. Curve the outside of the shoe nearly to
fit the foot, and you will find the inside heel a little straighter,
especially if the animal be narrow-breasted, and the feet stand close
together. Nature has provided this safeguard to prevent its striking the
opposite leg. After the shoe is prepared to fit the foot, as I have
before described, rasp the bottom level--it will be found nearly so. Do
not put a knife to the sole or the frog. The sole of the foot, remember,
is its life, and the frog its defender. In punching the shoe, two
nail-holes on a side, on a foot like this, are sufficient to hold on a
shoe. Three may be used, if set in their proper places, without injury
to the foot. Practice will teach you that any more nailing than this is
unnecessary. I have used two nails on a side on an animal with not the
best of a foot, and very high action, and he has worn them entirely out
without throwing either of them off. Previous to punching the shoe,
observe the grain of the foot. It will be seen that the fibres of the
hoof run from the top of the foot, or coronary border, towards the toe,
in most feet, at an angle of about forty-five degrees. It will be plain,
then, that if the nails are driven with the grain of the horn, they will
drive much easier, and hold better, and be less liable to cut and crack
the fibers.

Another benefit can be derived from this process of nailing. When the
foot comes to the ground, the nails act as a brace to keep the foot from
slipping forward off the shoe. This renders that very ingenious foot
destroyer, the toe-clip, unnecessary. Then, in punching the shoe, hold
the top of the pritchell toward the heel of the shoe, so as to get the
hole in the shoe on an angle with the grain of the hoof. Punch the holes
large enough, so that the nails will not bind in the shoe, nor require
unnecessary hammering or bruising of the foot to get them up to their
proper place. Prepare the nails well, point them thin and narrow; and,
as I have said before, use as small a nail as possible.

When you proceed to nail on the shoe, take a slight hold at the bottom,
so as to be sure that the nail starts in the wall of the foot instead of
the sole. Let it come out as high up as possible. You need not be afraid
of pricking with nails set in this way, as the