Rational Horse-Shoeing

By Wildair

"Rational Horse-Shoeing" is a detailed handbook on farriery first published in 1912. Within in, all aspects of horse shoeing are covered, including common ailments and their cure and prevention. The information is laid out in an accessible way, with detailed diagrams and illustrations helping to explain the principles. This book will appeal to modern equestrians and collectors of allied literature. Contents include: "General Observations", "Sound Horses", "Evils of Common Shoeing", "Frog Pressure", "Description of the Goodenough Shoe", "Countersinking the Nails", "The Bevel of the Foot Surface", "The Bevel on the Ground Surface", "The Calks", "How to Shoe Sound Feet", "Incipient Unsoundness", "Simple Cases of Contraction", "Quarter and toe Crack", etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Home Farm Books
• Release date: Oct 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781473343955

Book preview

RATIONAL

HORSE-SHOEING.

BY

WILDAIR.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

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