278 Horseshoeing. 



exercise of a little thought and patience to understand the prin- 

 ciple and apply it. 



But before 1 enter on details let me dispose of one subject that 

 has given rise to much unnecessary thought and controversy — I 

 mean the very generally entertained notion, that particular kinds 

 of roads and certain kinds of work call for separate and distinct 

 methods of shoeing — which has greatly complicated and mystified 

 a very simple and straightforward matter : the truth is, that no 

 system of shoeing is worth one moment's thought or considera- 

 tion that will not answer equally well in every description of 

 ground, and for every kind of work. 



It has been supposed that the hunter forms a speci.il excep- 

 tion, but the experience of a large number of gentlemen in 

 various parts of the country during the last ten years has entirely 

 dispelled the fallacy, and proved beyond dispute that the torture 

 inflicted on hunters by nailing the shoes from heel to heel, with 

 a view of keeping them on their feet, is an unnecessary act of 

 cruelty perpetrated to support the notion, that deep ground would 

 pull the shoes off unless they were secured by extra nails ; but if 

 a shoe fits the foot as it ought to do, and is perfectly fastened to 

 it by five nails, nothing short of a violent wrench from the smith's 

 pincers can remove it. This has been proved in numberless 

 instances, not only by myself but by others in various hunting 

 countries, who have kindly communicated to me the result of 

 their experience after a fair trial of the plan of shoeing and 

 general treatment of the horse's foot, which I recommended in a 

 work I published some years ago on that subject, and which an 

 officer of Prussian Hussars desired my permission to translate 

 and publish in German ; and he writes me that he and several 

 of his brother officers have had their horses shod as I have 

 directed, and that they never lose a shoe. It would be a useless 

 waste of time to go over all the proofs again ; nevertheless, 

 as I am now writing for agricultural readers, it is desirable that 

 I should be able to show to them, beyond the possibility of doubt, 

 that the mode of shoeing which I recommend will stand the test 

 of the deep clay ground their horses are sometimes called upon 

 to work in ; and in order to qualify myself to speak with authority 

 in this matter, I have lately instituted an experiment which I 

 think will carry conviction to the mind of the most sceptical. 



The two subjects of ray experiment were horses employed 

 in drawing materials for a large public building in course of 

 erection in a deep clay meadow, and I chose the particular time 

 for making the experiment, because the unusual quantity of rain 

 that had fallen during the preceding six weeks had rendered the 

 ground, both in the meadow and at the quarry from which the 

 stone was drawn, as deep and clinging as it is possible to con- 



