Part 6

A trotter that is wheel swinging a hind leg, has developed a line of action that is tiresome, controlled mostly by the muscles on the outside of leg, that unbalances action at speed to a certain extent, and it looks unsightly to a good judge of gait, when coming to you or going from you. To correct this faulty line of action of wheel swinging, keep the toe of hind feet nearly as long as the front feet, and have the angle of the hind feet within two or three degrees of the same as the front feet. If the angle of front feet is fifty degrees have the angle of the hind feet about fifty-two or three degrees. Lower the outside of hind foot a full quarter of an inch or more than it will be on the inside, begin lowering the outside of hind foot at the center of toe back to outside heel, have both hind feet the same length and angle. Shoe with a sideweight shoe heaviest side of shoe on inside of foot, with heelcalks, and place a thin low calk about one inch long on inside toe of shoe in line from first to second nail holes. After the first shoeing, if line of action has not improved as it should, you must lower the outside of hind foot still more, but if you cannot lower the foot have a shoe made thicker on the inside toe and thinner on the outside toe and quarters, with the three calks on it and there will be more of a change. This change can be made in the first shoeing if you have enough of foot to change, but it is best for the horse and owner not to make too radical a change too quickly. It is best to do it in two or three shoeings, especially on a horse that has a lot of speed. Slow going horses can stand more of a radical change than fast ones.

The directions in this article for the cure of wheel swinging, by foot fixing and shoeing, will create a sudden change, at different points, on the bones of the foot and leg, so as to create a leverage at a particular point as the foot leaves the ground, to control a more perfect line of action. Be sure your horse is not carrying his head off to one side, the opposite side to the wheel swinging leg, for if so this helps to unbalance action and works against the results you are trying to get to a certain extent. Do not have the outside heel of shoe any longer than the inside but have both same length.

XXII. KNUCKLING OVER.

This is caused by weakness, sometimes of the ligaments that hold the bones of ankle in their sockets, and sometimes higher up. To shoe for this, the first thing to do is to prepare the foot. You are likely to find the hind feet abnormally long, perhaps longer than the front feet. Lower the toes of hind feet as much as they will stand, shorten toes by rasping off as much as the foot will stand, do not touch the heels or have the inside of foot higher than the outside. Now use a light hind shoe, with side calks, the calks to be one and a half to two inches long, and tapering towards the toe of shoe. At the point of heel this calk should be not less than one-half inch high, the higher the better, a square toe shoe is much better than a plain one, shod this way the very best result is obtained at once. A shoe made thick at heels, three-quarters of an inch or more, and thin at the toe for ordinary driving is good.

XXIII. STUMBLING.

Is a very dangerous fault and is from a weakness that can be helped a lot. The front feet of a stumbler should be kept as short as possible at the toe. Elevate the heels as much as would be comfortable to the leg and horse. A stumbler should be made to carry some weight in his front shoes because the weight increases knee action, and this is what you want in a stumbler. Shoe with a toeweight shoe thick at the heels, for height, and roll the toes of the shoes as much as possible, a bevel toed shoe is also good, keep the heels middling high, and the toes cut down low and shortened up. These shoes are not very good for fast work, as they will slip back too much on leaving the ground, which retards speed but will help to make speed in lots of slow ones that require action.

XXIV. SPEEDY CUTTING.

A horse that is taking his work and is “speed cutting” and still continues to be a good actor must be game. Speed cutting begins at the coronet or a little higher up and continues up the pastern mostly on the inside of leg to the top of ankle and even above that. There are three things that cause this, the most prominent one to look for, is the inside of the hind feet are a lot higher than the outside; seven times out of ten the outside of front feet will be found longer or higher than the inside. The horse may or may not be carrying the proper weight. If he is pulling a part of a ton on the bit to hold him together, he is not properly balanced with weight. The hitting is mostly done with the outside toe of the front shoe. If you can find some one who can level and balance these feet on the legs there will be a big change in the action.

Excessive front, and not enough of hind, action will cause speed cutting. Excessive hock and stifle action and not enough action in front will also cause it. When the action is excessive, decrease it by lowering the quarters and heels and by shoeing very light, if the action of the other end needs to be increased, shorten the toes and add weight, do not be afraid, four to five ounces will be better to experiment with than one or two. After the horse gains confidence he may not need any extra weight. The most important thing will be to find some one who can fix the feet, and the feet will be found as I have stated above. There are very few who are good judges of a balanced foot. It takes an expert to detect the high and low side of a foot. Horses that wing into their knees and those that paddle away from their knees, and line trotters, contract this fault because of an improperly prepared foot to control the faulty line of action and at times not carrying the proper amount of weight front and hind to balance the action so that the hind action will work in harmony with the front.

If the horse wings in toward his knees with one or both front feet fix the front feet according to the directions in this book in the chapter on winging in or knee hitting. If the horse paddles out away from his knees, I refer you to the chapter on Paddling to prepare his feet by, and use the shoes therein prescribed. If the front action is excessive and lofty you must lower the quarters and heels to give him a longer leverage to leave the ground from, and shoe with a light shoe, and balance him with a toe weight for extension, and have the feet the same length and angle.

To prepare the feet on a speedy cutter, rasp down or lower the inside of foot from centre of toe back to inside heel to a level or a fraction lower than the outside of the foot, have the toes of both feet the same length, and at the angle he shows the most speed with. Shoe with a sideweight shoe, the heavy side of shoe on the outside of foot and calked to prevent slipping.

To shorten the hind stride use a light shoe, raise the heels and shorten the toes of the hind feet as much as they will stand. To lengthen the stride of the hind feet, lower the quarters and heels to a longer angle to leave the ground from, and add several ounces more weight than the horse has been carrying to each shoe; the inside edges of hind shoes from the toe back to quarters should be beveled off. The edges of front shoes should be beveled off on both outside and inside.

XXV. A BAD SPEEDY CUTTER.

The late Freeman M. Dodge of Pittsfield, Mass., trainer and driver, had a bay mare by the name of “Tillie Wilkes” that was speedy cutting so bad that he was not able to work her, and he came to me to find out if I could stop her from speedy cutting. I told him I could not tell until I saw her driven. He brought her over and drove her down the stretch at a three minute gait. This mare had a sore spot on the lower inside of one hind ankle that was raw, the size of a silver dollar and when she began touching this spot, speedy cutting, she would jump and begin running. After seeing this mare driven I found she had excessive action in front and very lofty, and her hind action mostly all stifle action and very little hock action and her feet were in bad shape. She was driven over the next day to be shod and I had her shoes ready when she arrived. I fixed this mare’s front feet by lowering her quarters and heels as much as nature would allow me, and left all the toe possible. This gave her a longer leverage to leave the ground from, which kept her from breaking over so quick, and it reduced her lofty knee action and created more extension. I took off a twelve-ounce shoe from each of her front feet, and applied a four-ounce aluminum shoe.

Fixing her hind feet and shoeing them was the most important. I shortened the toes and lowered the inside of each hind foot until the inside of them was as low as the outside or a shade lower if anything. I fitted a pair of heavy sideweight shoes, the heavy side of the shoes on the outside of the hind feet, each hind shoe weighed about eleven ounces with heel calks. This job stopped all the speedy cutting and she trotted quarters in 31 seconds shortly after, and was sold to Mr. Shults for $750.00.

XXVI. GAITING COLTS.

Sometimes you will find a colt that has not much knee, hock or stifle action and not much speed, and in such cases, to remedy the defect, after the feet have been leveled the hind feet a shade shorter than the front, I would recommend a heavy rolling toe shoe in front, eight, nine or ten ounces and a little lighter one behind, two or three ounces lighter. If the foot is large and the colt is strong, eleven ounces in front to begin with. Now as the action increases, decrease the weight. When the colt begins to make speed he or she will not need a rolling toe shoe in front, a plain shoe is better, one that will not slip back on leaving the ground. As the colt begins to make speed the action of the legs needs watching because sometimes they will begin to show a faulty line of action.

If they begin to get faulty they are liable to begin winging in or paddling out, and when shod again the feet can be fixed to prevent this way of going at speed. The most important thing is fixing their feet to prevent a faulty line of action for if the feet are not kept level they will begin getting rough gaited and unsteady. One important thing in fixing feet on yearlings to be shod and worked for speed is to keep the quarters and heels of front feet as low as possible, it affords comfort in landing and increases extension without carrying so much weight. Colts that have a lot of action at both ends, hind and front, need very light shoes all round, you can find out the proper balance with a toe weight.

To increase extension, lower the quarters and heels and apply toe weights instead of using so much in the shoe. The colt should carry a natural head, not too high and not too low, the lower the better if he is inclined to mix. If your colt is short and choppy gaited in his hind action lower the quarters and heels of hind feet and shoe with a heavy toeweight plain shoe and extend the shoe out one-quarter of an inch or more in front of toe of hind foot. When the colt begins to make speed decrease the weight of shoe of hind feet. Some youngsters require more weight behind than in front to equalize action so as to work harmoniously front and rear.

If you have a mixed-gaited colt and you want to make a trotter out of him or her, keep plenty of foot on both hind and front feet, especially at the toes. When fixing the feet to be shod cut or rasp the quarters and heels of both front and hind feet as low as possible, keep plenty of toe on front and hind feet. Usually you will find that the front feet have the longest angle to leave the ground from, but by lowering the quarters and heels of hind feet to get them as near as you can to the same angle of the front feet, the more you will be confining the gait to a pure trot, and there will be less danger of singlefooting or pacing.

I want my readers to distinctly understand that there is a set of pacing feet for a pacer and a set of trotting feet for a trotter, especially at the time when you are going to convert a trotter to the pace or a pacer to the trot. That, however, will be explained later in this book. If your trotting colt becomes mixed gaited or goes into a singlefoot or pace, the first thing to do is to lower the quarters and heels of hind feet as much as possible, keep all the toe on him you can and shoe with a light shoe with toe and heel calks. The front feet should be lowered in the same manner and add a few ounces more weight to front shoes and allow your colt to be driven as low headed as is comfortable.

When you try this remedy for a mixed-gaited colt or horse you will be surprised why you have not been able to find it out years ago.

The pacing youngster with not much of any kind of action at either end, needs to go in short toes and heavy shoes all around and if the toes of shoes are beveled or rolled it will be very good the first time shod. After your pacing colt begins to make speed, shoe to prevent slipping at both ends, with heel and toe calks on hind shoes. As a rule they go high headed, it seems to suit the majority of pacers.

HORSE-SHOE STACK—ALLEN FARM, 1916.

W. J. MOORE ]

If your pacer begins to cross-fire lower the inside of hind feet but if you cannot lower the feet on the inside raise the outside with the thickness of the shoe, thick on outside and thin on inside. If you can lower the inside of hind feet low enough, a plain shoe will do with calks. The best shoe for a cross-firing pacer is a heavy sideweight shoe, thin and rounded off on the inside toe. You do not need any projections on this shoe, heel or toe, if the foot is properly prepared to widen action. If your colt gets to winging to his knees, lower the outside of front feet from centre of toes to heel on outside. If your colt begins to paddle with one front leg or the other, lower the inside of the foot or feet as much as they will stand, this will leave the outside toe the longest to leave the ground from, which, when at speed, will prevent a lot of paddling. The lighter the shoes on a paddler the better, but if he has to carry some weight in his shoes to balance action, put all the weight in the outside of his shoes. If you use a toeweight, attach it near to the outside toe for better results. Paddling is caused by the contraction of muscles on one side of the leg, the same as winging in, and not always by bad shoeing, the main thing is foot fixing.

Some say there is nothing under the sun perfect. Foals developing in the womb of their dam sometimes will be in a cramped position, which contracts those muscles or ligaments that cause winging in or paddling out. As some of the yearlings and weanlings show this faulty line of action before ever being shod. I have seen yearlings that were knee-knockers to begin with and you would think confirmed ones and after one, two or three shoeings you could not hear them knock their boots on the turns, and they would later develop into fast trotters and win races or take fast records at two and three years old.

At the Allen Farm, where I have been located for a great many years, I have seen results obtained by foot fixing and shoeing that satisfied me that there were secrets hidden from most of the public in the art or science of foot fixing and balancing faulty action, and from my experience and the results obtained, I felt that the public was entitled to my knowledge so gained. I have seen yearlings step eighths of a mile from 15¾ to 17 and 18 seconds, and many of them. I have seen a yearling step the last sixteenth of an eighth in seven seconds, a 1:52 gait, on this half-mile track which should go a second faster on a mile track.