After the shoer has carefully examined the hoofs in the manner described upon pages 90, 91, and 92, and has fixed in mind the relation of the height of the hoofs to the size and weight of the body, he cleanses the hoof and removes all stubs of old nails. At the same time he should be asking himself _if_, _where_, and _how much_ horn is to be removed. In all cases all loosely attached fragments of horn are to be removed, for example, chips of horn produced by repeated bending and stretching of the lower border of the wall. The sole is then freed from all flakes of dead horn. The shoer then runs the rasp around the outer border of the wall and breaks it off to the depth to which he thinks it should be shortened, and then =cuts the wall down to its union with the sole, so that at least one-eighth of an inch of the edge of the sole lies in the same level as the bearing-surface of the wall=. Finally, the wall, white line, and outer margin of the sole, forming the “bearing-surface,” must be rasped until they are perfectly horizontal, except that at the toe of fore-hoofs this bearing-surface may be rasped slightly upward (rolled toe). In dressing the hoof the =branches= of the frog should always be left prominent enough to project beyond the bearing-surface of the quarters about the thickness of an ordinary flat shoe. If it be weakened by paring, it is deprived of its activity, shrinks, and the hoof becomes narrow to a corresponding degree. The frog should, therefore, be _trimmed_ only when it is really _too prominent_. However, loose and diseased particles of horn may be trimmed away when it is affected with thrush. [Illustration: FIG 96. Nippers.] The _bars_ should be spared and never =shortened= except when too long. Their union with the wall at the quarters must in no case be weakened, and never cut through (opening up the heels). They should be left as high as the wall at the quarters, or only a little less, while the branches of the sole should lie about one-eighth of an inch lower. The _buttress_ (angle formed by the union of wall and bar) requires special attention. In healthy unshod hoofs the bars run backward and outward in a straight line from the anterior third of the frog. In shod hoofs, however, it happens that the buttresses gradually lengthen, curl inward, and press upon the branches of the frog, causing the latter to shrink. In such cases the indication is to remove these prolongations of horn from the buttresses so as to restore to the bars their normal direction.