Overshoe

“ The Napoleon tongued boot, for a heavy one, is supposed to have a superiority of fit about the ankle, and is more tasteful in a general way.
The double-footed boot is considered, with some reason, to be warmer than a single one of the same thickness. [Pg 144] For men’s feet that are very sensitive to cold, perhaps the best thing is a doubled boot, having the inside part, or foot-lining, made of fur-calf—calf skin dressed with the hair on—or some other kind of fur. Arctic overshoes are very excellent for riding in cold weather, provided they are not too small. ”

“ The shoes for winter should be moderately thick and waterproof. If boys and girls be delicate, they ought to have double soles to their shoes, with a piece of bladder between each sole, or the inner sole may be made of cork; either of the above plans will make the soles of boots and shoes completely waterproof. In wet or dirty weather, india-rubber overshoes are useful, as they keep the upper as well as the under leathers perfectly dry. ”

“ I will not make myself ridiculous as some mothers no doubt do, by insisting that you wear overshoes, though I remember one Christmas you wore them around constantly without a single buckle latched, making such a curious swishing sound, and you refused to buckle them because it was not the thing to do. ”

“ It was with a general sigh of relief that the bell announcing the hour of dismission was heard.
But the discomfort was not yet over. The halls and dressing-rooms were filled with an odor of wet wool and rubber; rain-cloaks and rubbers were confusedly mixed, and Miss Brownlow reminded the complainers, in a most irritating manner, of the number of times she had urged them all to mark their gossamers and overshoes, and positively forbade them to expect any interference from her if anything were lost. ”

“ Osmer continues: 'Let the shoe on every horse stand wider at the points of the heels than the foot itself; otherwise, as the foot grows in length, the heel of the shoe in a short time gets within the heel of the horse; which pressure often breaks the crust, produces a temporary lameness, perhaps a corn. Let every kind of foot be kept as short at the toe as possible (so as not to affect the quick) , for by a long toe, the foot becomes thin and weak, the heels low, and the flexor tendons of the leg are strained; the shortness of the toe helps also to widen the narrow heels. ”

“ On the other hand, if the seating is insufficient, or the web of the shoe too wide, and too great a bearing thus given to the sole, then we get, first, an undue pressure upon the last-named portion of the foot a bruise, and, finally, lameness. The correct bearing should take in the whole of the wall and the whole of the white line, and should just impinge upon the sole. Above all, the heels of the shoe should be of full length, otherwise, if the shoe is worn just a little too long, its heels are carried under the sole of the foot, and by pressure there produce a corn. ”

“ With the bar removed, the outward movements of the frog under pressure are naturally rendered of no account, and a proper and intermittent expansion of the wall denied it. The same evil follows, though to a less extent, excessive paring of the sole.
The shape of the bearing surface of the shoe is often to be blamed. Where this is concave—'seated'—and the 'seating' is carried back to the heels, it is easy to see that, when weight is on the foot, there is an ever-present tendency for the bearing edge of the wall to slide down towards the inner edge of the shoe. ”

“ While choosing the shoe we must once more refer to the shape of our pattern shoe; the web is of equal thickness from toe to heel. A shoe, thinner at the heel than at the toe, by letting down the heel too low, is apt to produce sprain of the flexor tendon, and a shoe thicker at the heels than at the toe is fit only to elevate the frog, to the destruction of its function, and to its own certain disease, and also to press upon and to batter and to bruise that part of the foot which is soonest and most destructively injured. ”

“ A horse shod with shoes unnecessarily heavy is at just that disadvantage; therefore it is of the utmost importance both for his comfort and your safety that he should be shod as lightly as is compatible with the work required of him. In fitting the shoe, great care should be taken that both sides of the hoof are of the same height. If they are not of the same height, the whole foot is thrown out of plumb; this twists the delicate joints of leg and pastern and leads to disease. In the majority of cases that I have noticed, [257] the inside of the foot is left higher than the outside. ”

“ Tremendous vanity, that one man should allow the mouth of another to be applied to his feet that he may have them trimly set out! The shoemaker unfolds the heel, turns round with the shoeing skin in his hand, and begins to fit the second part of the shoe upon the foot. He desires the gallant to put the end of the foot down, and the gallant does as he is desired. He draws the shoe towards him with such force that the person who is thus being shoed is compressed in an unseemly manner between the shoemaker's body and the back of the chair. ”

“ After removing the old shoe, whose outer branch is, as a rule, more worn away than the inner, the outer wall will always be found too high, due to the fact that there has been little or no expansion and contraction in this quarter and, therefore, little or no wear of the horn against the shoe. The hoof is therefore wry,—on the outside too high, and on the inside too low. This shows us how the foot should be dressed so as to obtain a proper base of support and a uniform wear of the shoe. The most suitable shoe is a flat shoe, whose outer branch must be wider than the inner. ”

“ They assist in widening the hoof, and lessen shock when the foot is set to the ground. These are all matters which favor the growing down of unbroken horn.
When the crack gaps widely, and the frog is small and deep in the foot a shoe with bar-clips (Defay’s shoe) , or a Chadwick spring, with bar-shoe and leather sole may be used. It is not impossible, indeed, to obtain a cure by using an ordinary open flat shoe, though much will depend upon the other lesions that may be present, the nature of the hoof, and the service required of the animal. ”

“ And in Antonio the South claimed her own again.
Even the discomfort of my shoes could not seriously dampen my enjoyment. Those trodden-over heels had become nearly unbearable; but when I caught one between two rocks and tore it off, the resulting limp was worse. It was not till the next morning that Frater evolved the brilliant thought of prying off the other heel to match, which was a great relief.
Feet and shoes are always a problem on a long pedestrian trip. A shoe too tight is misery, but one too large, which allows the foot to rub and chafe, is almost as bad. ”

“ Chapter IX. relates to the form which the fore-shoes should have. Usually, the fore-shoe should not project beyond the toe of the hoof, except this part has been broken and worn; but it is advantageous that it should project a little beyond the foot from the quarters back, so as to preserve the horn there; and behind the foot it should not be short, but exact and equal to the extremity of the heel, for if it surpass the heel the horse will likely forge (click or strike) with the hind feet; and if too short, if the heels are weak and tender, the animal may suffer pain and injury. ”

“ A farrier with a good eye and good judgment, on examination of the hind feet, will find out the main cause of the trouble. Keep the toes of all ankle hitters as short as possible for the shorter the leverage to break over and leave the ground from, the straighter the line of action of the leg will be; a middling high heel, and a very short toe is the best. If the foot or feet are too high on the inside, lower the insides to a level with the outside, and shoe with a heel calk, hot rasp the inside of shoes to a bevel. ”

“ And for these two reasons: first, that, since a squat, broad, dumpy foot is much uglier than a long thin one, therefore you may always diminish the appearance of breadth, by adding to the reality of length; and next, that when the shoe is long, the toes have plenty of room, and commonly 'tis here that "the shoe pinches." No one has corns on his heels or the sides of his feet, let his shoes or boots be as narrow as he can well bear them: it is upon those poor, pent up, imprisoned, distorted joints of the toes, that the rubs of the world come, and that the corning process goes on. ”

“ Where the crack is situated far back in the quarter, and easing of the bearing cannot be accomplished without tending to spring the heels, then the most suitable shoe is a bar shoe. With it the bearing may, of course, be eased in exactly the position required, and the heels still allowed to take their fair share in bearing the body-weight, and thus assist in closing the crack. The bar shoe, if properly fitted, gives us also a bearing on the frog, and aids greatly in counteracting contraction. ”

“ If your horse's foot be bad and brittle, they advise you to cover it with a very heavy shoe; the consequence of which proceeding is evident: for how should the foot, which before could scarce carry itself, be able afterwards to carry such an additional weight, which is stuck on, moreover, with a multitude of nails, the holes of which tear and weaken the hoof? The only system all these simpletons seem to agree in, is to shoe in general with excessive heavy and clumsy, ill-shaped shoes, and very many nails, to the total destruction of the foot. ”

“ The shoe is made not to fit the real foot, but a fashionable imaginary one!
Let me strongly urge you to be particular that the sock or stocking fits nicely—that it is neither too small nor too large; if it be too small, it binds up the toes unmercifully, and makes one toe to ride over the other, and thus renders the toes perfectly useless in walking; if it be too large, it is necessary to lap a portion of the sock or stocking either under or over the toes, which thus presses unduly upon them, and gives pain and annoyance. ”

“ It is true a carefully fitted shoe on a foot so treated may do no harm for a time. Too much horn should be left rather than too little. A strong covering of horn is a protection against many mistakes in the fitting or form of a shoe applied to a foot. So long as a hoof is everywhere strong enough to sustain pressure and afford bearing, weight is evenly distributed throughout the whole foot. When the horn is thin it yields to any uneven pressure and damage is done to the foot, even if immediate lameness is not induced.
[Pg 48]
CHAPTER IV.
The Form and Manufacture of Shoes. ”

“ Both were pretty hot—the squirt much the hotter of the two; but [145] both of them cooled down in a few seconds. By that time my old man was completely out of sight. And I should not wonder if he was away some time; for perhaps you know, and perhaps you don't know, the effect of an old horseshoe on that sort of people. Not only is it of iron, which they can't abide, but when they see or, still more, touch the shoe, they have to go over all the ground that the shoe went over since it was last in the blacksmith's hands. Only I doubt if the same shoe will work for more than one witch or wizard. ”

“ Besides good, tough iron for the shoe, we need an anvil with a round horn and a small hole at one end, a round-headed turning-hammer, a round sledge, a stamping hammer, a pritchel of good steel, and, if a fullered shoe is to be made, a round fuller. Bodily activity and, above all else, a good eye for measurement are not only desirable, but necessary. A shoe should be made thoughtfully, but yet quickly enough to make the most of the heat. ”

“ At this time high heels are most dangerous, as they are not only likely to cause the wearer to fall forward, but they prepare for her a difficult labour by causing the lumbar vertebrae to push forward.
The high heel assists the pointed toe in deforming the foot by forcing the foot forward to the end of the boot.
A simple experiment will show any individual what the shape of his boots ought to be; for feet are as distinctive features of the human frame as hands or faces, and they ought to be studied accordingly. ”

“ Then it is just such a shoe as would fit easily and comfortably a foot that treads outside; and for that very reason it is exactly such a one as ought to be worn by a foot that treads inwardly. All the force exerted by the stiffness of the counter, and the inclination of the whole shoe, goes toward righting up the foot and pushing it over outwardly. Still there is nothing that can hurt the foot—only a steady and gentle pressure in the right direction, which does not interfere with the use of the muscles. ”

“ But though the stay, when properly used, may be upheld, there is nothing that can be said in excuse of the wicked fashion—wicked, because the cause of much deformity and disease—of the high heel and pointed toe. We all know the mischief done by the very high heel, and from an artistic point of view it is to be condemned, making, as it does, the prettiest foot look like a hoof and destroying all freedom and dignity of gait. ”

“ The cause first operating to produce them is the wrong shape of the shoe at the inside, which gives the oblique position to the great toe. Narrowness and shortness are stronger influences acting in the same direction, aided still further by extreme height of heels, by changing, by narrow-toed stockings, etc. And it is especially worthy of being noticed that the short and narrow toes, and the high heels often adopted to improve the foot’s appearance, do thus inevitably defeat that purpose. ”