XLVII. SIDEWEIGHT SHOES.
Sideweight shoes are used with good results on horses that wing in to their knees or knee hitters. Apply the weighty side of shoe on the inside of foot, fix the outside of the foot from the center of toe to the outside heel the lowest, it will be good in some cases to have the outside web of shoe only one-half as thick as that of the inside, the thinner the outside the better for the winging in. For paddling out the sideweight shoe is used with the weight on the outside of the foot, be sure and fix the foot by lowering the inside of foot from center of toe back to the inside heel, have the inside of foot lower than the outside for a paddler, and have the outside of foot lower than the inside for a front shin, knee and arm hitter. A hind foot has to be fixed the lowest on the inside for speedy cutting, shin and hock hitting. A sideweight shoe is used a lot for speedy cutting, shin and hock hitting, but if the feet can be properly leveled low enough on the insides, many horses will go clean, or good gaited without the sideweight shoe, as it is the extra high inside of hind feet that causes the closing up of the hind action that makes all the trouble.
In many cases to help matters as to speedy cutting, shin and hock hitting the front action has to be examined. The horse may have too much or not enough front action to work in harmony with the hind action. If he is going too high or lofty I would reduce the lost lofty action and increase the extension. If he is going too low I would increase his front action by shortening his toes and adding several ounces more weight, sometimes it will require from four to six ounces more weight. To reduce the high or lofty front action and create more extension lower the quarters and heels of front feet, shoe with an extra light bar shoe and have the foot at an angle of from 48 to 50 degrees. In making this change you will get immediate results, and if necessary you can also experiment with a toe weight to balance up matters more satisfactorily.