After fixing the front feet as directed, do not leave the heels on the hind feet high or the toes of the hind feet too short, fix the hind feet by leaving the toes long enough and the heels low enough to create an angle to within a few degrees the same as the front feet. This will prevent breaking over too quick which increases the liability to singlefoot, and fixing hind feet this way lengthens the stride and helps to confine the action to the trot longer and purer.
A foot left too high on the outside from centre of toe back to the outside heel will cause this. Some travel very close and others wing in: this winging in is not always because of an imperfect or unbalanced foot, sometimes it is caused by a deformity of the leg, or a contraction of the muscles or ligaments, sometimes they will be either longer or stronger on one side of the leg than on the other, which has a tendency to control winging or paddling. To fix a foot that is hitting the shins of the front legs, shorten the toe to a natural length foot, while doing this keep lowering the outside of the foot, leaving the inside of the foot quite a bit higher, by actual measurement, in some cases a quarter of an inch higher or longer is not too much. Shoe with a plain shoe or a side weight shoe with the heavy side of shoe on the inside of each foot, the heavy or wider side of the shoe will prevent sinking in the ground, which will help matters. Bevel or hot rasp the inside edge of shoe from the inside toe back to the quarters. Shoe with the weight that the horse goes best with.
VI. HOW TO MAKE A SHOE TO PREVENT WINGING IN.
Make a heavy side weight shoe, the same kind of shoe as for a paddler but the weight or heavy side of shoe will have to be on the inside of the foot. Fix the feet, according to article in this book on winging in, to receive this shoe. Bevel or round off the inside toe back to quarters on this shoe. With the foot properly fixed for this shoe there will be an immediate change. If a toe weight is used keep spur towards inside toe from centre of foot but not far enough to hit knee boot.
There are different causes for this trouble. In the trotter it is because the hind action and the front action do not work in harmony with one another. Excessive hind action will cause it, or excessive front action in some cases will cause it. A front foot that is highest or longest on the outside toe will cause it. What will cause it the quickest and more severely is a _high inside_ on the _hind foot_, especially on a horse that has been going open gaited behind. If your horse has plenty of action in front and is going in a medium light shoe I would advise you to level his hind feet; be sure and do not have the _inside_ of hind feet the _highest_ (which is nearly always the case), but if anything have it a shade the lowest, and shoe the hind feet with an outside weight shoe several ounces heavier than he has been carrying; this will widen his hind action and when he gets to going the weight will keep him outside and clear. This weight can be decreased as his gait is being perfected. The most particular part of this will be to get his _feet properly_ prepared to help the line of action.