280 Horseslioeinr/. 



shoe of any liorse belonging- to me for several years past, neither 

 do I intend to increase the number : I merely record the fact to 

 show that no one need fear to trust their horses' shoes to the 

 keeping oi five nails. 



The result of tlie numberless experiments I have made at 

 various times, on all sorts of horses doing every kind of work, is, 

 that there is but one principle to be observed in horseshoeing, 

 which will admit of no variation or compromise : the shoe must 

 fit the foot, whatever the shape of the foot may happen to be, 

 and it must he nailed to the hoof in such a manner as icill 

 permit the foot to expand to the weight of the horse ; this latter 

 condition will be best complied with by placing three nails in 

 the outer limb of the shoe, and two in the inner limb between 

 the toe and the commencement of the inner quarter ; a larger 

 number than five nails can never be required in any shoe of anv 

 size, or under any circumstances, excepting for the sole purpose of 

 counteracting defective and clumsy fitting. I will now proceed 

 to describe, as shortly as I can, the details of the plan I recom- 

 mend ; and if it should appear, to those who have done me the 

 lionour to read what 1 have already published, that 1 have re- 

 peated myself, I can only answer that the details of a fixed plan 

 will admit of no variation in substance, and very little in words. 



The first thing requiring attention is the removal of the old 

 shoes, which should be done with much more care than is usually 

 bestowed on it, and without any of that violent wrenching from 

 side to side one too often witnesses, whereby the clenches are 

 dragged tlirough the crust by main force, and the horn wantonly 

 and unnecessarily destroyed. It is very little trouble to raise the 

 clenches with the buffer, and, if the nails should still retain a 

 firm hold and resist a moderate effort to displace the shoe, the 

 punch should be used to loosen them, so as to cause the shoe to 

 come off easily and without damage to the hoof. The smith will 

 be amply repaid for his trouble by the unbroken horn he will 

 find to nail to, and the firmer hold he will obtain for liis nails 

 when he comes to nail on the new shoe. Having taken off the 

 shoe the rasp should be passed round the lower edge of the crust 

 before the foot is let down, to remove the jagged edge, and also 

 to ascertain that there are no stubs remaining in the horn : if the 

 edge is not rasped it is apt to split and break when the horse 

 moves, which he is sure to do as soon as his foot is on the ground 

 again. No horse should have more than one foot bared at a 

 time ; however strong his feet may happen to be, he is sure to 

 stand quieter on a shod foot than he can on a bare one, and it 

 will prevent his breaking the crust. "A horse with weak flat feet 

 is in positive misery when forced to sustain his whole weight on 

 a bare foot, while the opposite foot is held up. 



