242 STATE BOAIU) OF AGRICULTURE. 



to be useil and the manner of setting, and my horse did her work through tlie 

 Slimmer without any trouble on account of her feet. Now I know that if I 

 had not cjivcn directions to the second smith he would have put on the same 

 form of shoes that had done the mischief before, and I should iiave the same 

 experience in the forges of this town to-day, as I iiave found by examining the 

 shoes therein nsed ; and I fully believe that this blind mechanical routine of 

 horse-shoeing has ruined more horses in our country than any other single 

 cause; and it will continue its abominable work just as long as horsemen will 

 allow their animals to be shod in such a manner. But what are we to do? 

 may be asked with reason ; the smith knows nothing, relatively speaking, and 

 the horse's master knows no more. Verily there ouglit to be room between 

 the two for a great improvement. It is in recjuiring a more intelligent class of 

 men for shoeing smiths, and making them acquainted with the anatomy of the 

 horse's foot that we must look for a remedy for this great evil. Certainly it 

 can do no harm if the farmer or horse owner understands the make up of the 

 horse's foot, but the smith should be taught to recognize the different forms of 

 feet and the shoe best adapted to each particular form. The shoe which I 

 have found in general use in the different sections of this country that I have 

 visited is of the form known as the seated shoe, and when finished and ready 

 for setting it is the realization of one of the most irrational ideas that ever 

 emanated from the human brain. It must be so familiar to all who have seen 

 horses shod as to need but a glance from us here. On the lower face of the 

 shoe we find three blunt prominences called calkins. Now, in putting a set of 

 these shoes on a horse's feet we place him upon twelve points of iron, and a 

 more prolific source of slips, wrenches and strains of the horse's legs could not 

 easily be imagined. Let us suppose that in being driven over the dry, hard roads 

 of summer the horse places one of these toes upon a rounded stone; we find 

 the toe tilted upwards, from behind forwards, and if he is traveling at a rapid 

 pace there is every chance of straining some of the tendonous structures at the 

 back of the limb ; if the toe has been placed on the side of the stone the foot 

 is thrown to one side, or slips, and in either case endangers the lateral liga- 

 ments of the joints of the limb. If the horse places one of these bed calkins 

 on a stone he is pitched forward, and I have often thought that he must then 

 feel much as we do when, in coming down a flight of stairs iu the dark, we 

 find that there is a step more than we counted on. I dare say that most of us 

 know what an agreeable sensation is the result. I have often wondered what 

 could be the object of putting such appendages to a shoe for summer wear, 

 and I have as often asked the smith, *• Why do you turn down those calkins?" 

 "Why, to keep him from slipping, sir." "Ah, I see ; but if I were to be stilted 

 up in the air on six points like those calkins, I am sure I should soon require 

 the services of the nearest bone-setter." But just at that moment the smith 

 finds that the other shoe is nearly burnt, and I am left to draw my own con- 

 clusions amidst the merry peals of the hammer. The upper face of this shoe 

 we will find quite as interesting as the lower. This face, we find, is divided 

 into two portions; first a flat surface following the external border of the shoe 

 and bounded on the inside by a bevelled surface; near the center of the flat 

 surface, extending backward from the toe, there is a row of nail holes for the 

 attachment of the shoe to the foot. Tliis flat surface forms the seat of the 

 shoe, and it is from this that tlie slioe takes its name. The bevelled surface of 

 the shoe has often puzzled me as well as the calkins, and I have asked the 

 smith for u little light on the matter. '* Wliy do you bevel the shoe iu that way?" 



