It looks strange to many people that an outside weight shoe to a _front foot_ has a tendency to make a horse wing in, and the same shoe applied to a hind foot will widen the hind action, with the foot fixed for that purpose. If you can fix the foot _properly_ to control the line of action that you want, you will surely accomplish something. You should know what angle suits the action best. The foot should be symmetrical in shape to conform with the coffin bone, have no more foot on one side of the frog than on the other side, and the bearing surface to hang so as the foot will land on and leave the ground as square or level as possible.
IX. JOGGING A KNEE KNOCKER WINTER AND SPRING, AND THE BEST WAY TO SHOE AND FIX THE FOOT TO DEVELOP THE MUSCLES.
Lower the outside of the foot of the winging in leg, and _keep it the lowest_. Shoe the foot with a _very light shoe_, plain or bar shoe, have a side pocket weight made that will carry from 6 to 9 ounces of lead with a spur on it; cut or burn a hole in the bottom edge of the foot midway between toe and heel for the spur, buckle it tight to foot, the weight to be on inside of foot. If the horse wings in with both front feet use the pocket weights on both feet and fix both feet as directed above. This will have a wonderful effect _in developing muscle_ while taking his slow work that will help to prevent winging in so bad when he begins faster work. This knee knocker should be shod with a side weight shoe, the heft of weight on inside of foot, shoe should be very light on outside. This shoe should be made thick on inside with a bevel thinned towards the outside toe, a difficult shoe to make to be used when pocket weights are discarded for fast work.
X. A BAD SHIN, KNEE AND ARM HITTER, TROTTER.
A chronic shin, knee and arm hitter was a horse called Rustler, owned at Richmond, Va. In the early part of the summer that he raced so well, he was working miles around 2:41 and 2:42 but very unsteady, breaking continually. He would begin by hitting his shins, as speed was increased he would hit his knees and arms so hard that he would not stay on the trot. He was brought to me to shoe by his colored groom, who also brought his boots, as I had never seen the horse in action, but after seeing the boots he wore, I saw at a glance he needed as far as gaiting or balancing was concerned, to be regenerated. He was a large horse, and his feet had not grown much from the last shoeing so as I could change them to my liking. I was informed that he went best in light shoes, but the owner told me to use my own judgment, so I did. I made a pair of sideweight shoes, 18 ounces with toe and heel calks, the heavy side of shoes on the inside of each front foot, the outside of each front shoe as light as possible. After leveling his hind feet, a light shoe with heel calks was put on. The owner, Mr. C. J. Smith of Richmond, Va., came to the shop and looked at the front shoes and did not like the job, as to the weight and the calks, thinking if he did not knock a leg off, he would cut boots and legs to smithereens. I told him I would change them if he thought it best, but before I got ready to take them off he said leave them on and I will try them and see what he will do with them. The groom drove him out to the track, and Mr. Smith, being present, ordered the groom to drive him a slow mile as the trainer was not there; he worked the second mile so easy that he was worked another easy mile in 2:21, the last quarter well within himself in 33 seconds without a break, over the same half-mile track on which he could not beat 2:41 previous to this shoeing. They said when he got on his stride there was nothing the matter with him. I had not heard from the horse for nearly a week when one day as the owner was driving by I hailed him asking how was Rustler, he said “he is all right, there isn’t a thing the matter with him.” He went to the races, started in at Baltimore, Maryland, and after winning seven or eight consecutive races, finished at Readville a close second in 2:12. Most of his races were won in the same front shoes it took to balance him, and yet some writers will say you cannot get immediate results.
