Horseshoeing, 



283 



is almost invariably done, the effect of uhich is to convert a 

 simple and safe operation 

 into one of difficulty and 

 danger, for the nails must 

 first be driven with their 

 points inclining inwards, 

 and then outwards, until 

 at last they emerge high 

 up in the thinnest part of 

 the crust, having split 

 their way out in the di- 

 rection of the fibres of 

 the horn, with a great pro- 

 bability of some portion of 

 the shanks lying so close 

 to the sensitive lining of 

 the hoof as to press upon 

 it when the foot is in ac- 

 tion and expands. Where the holes are thus made to incline 

 inwards it requires considerable dexterity to drive the nails 

 so as to steer clear of the many dangers that lie in the way. I 

 do not allude to the graver matter of pricking the foot, as it is 

 called, but to the thousand and one varying degrees of pressure 

 from the shanks of the nails, causing constant uneasiness, or, it 

 may be, pain in the foot. If the quick has been wounded the 

 horse soon tells the tale, but if he is only uneasy from pressure, 

 he bears it patiently, and it is never known to his master, although 

 it is very frequently tlie unsuspected cause of broken knees. 



We hear much about rolling stones in the road causing broken 

 knees : a rolling stone is a very convenient scapegoat for a large 

 amount of bad riding, bad driving, and bad shoeing ; but, I take 

 it, we should be much nearer the truth, in nine cases out ot ten, if 

 we attributed the misfortune to misplaced nails, driven through 

 holes slanting inwards. When the nail-holes are made to pass 

 straight through the substance of the iron, and the angle at which 

 the hoof meets the shoe is considered, it will be self-evident that 

 nails, driven straight through those holes, must cross the grain of 

 the horn and come out low in the crust, presenting the strongest 

 portion of the shank for a clench ; and my experience tends to 

 show, that nails so driven obtain a much firmer hold in con- 

 sequence of their piercing the horn across the grain, than nails 

 driven higher up the crust loith the grain. 



A few observations on the fuller, or groove in which the nail- 

 holes are stamped, may not be out of place here, with a view to 

 correct an error that almost all smiths fall into, of making their 

 fullering-irons so fine and thin, that the grooves produced by 



