290 



Horseshoeing. 



B2i 



B 2 in each of the figures, is considera])ly straighter than the 

 outer quarter marked B 1, Avhich is the natural shape of a well- 

 formed foot : the inner 

 quarter is not only 

 straighter and more up- 

 right than the outer 

 quarter, hut the crust is 

 thinner and more elas- 

 tic, and consequently 

 expands in a greater 

 degree to the horse's 

 weight ; but when we 

 talk of the hoof being 

 elastic and the foot ex- 

 panding, we would by 

 no means have it in- 

 ferred that they bear 

 any relation to the elas- 

 ticity or expansion of 

 India-rubber; if they 

 did, the bones of the foot would be thrust through the hoof 

 during violent action, or in a down leap. The elasticity and ex- 

 pansion are small in degree, scarcely exceeding the eighth of an 

 inch in the feet of most horses, that have been several times 

 shod, but they are most important in their consequences, by 

 affording exactly the amount of enlargement of the cavity neces- 

 sary for the descent of the bones of the foot, without squeezing 

 the sensitive parts Avhich line the hoof. 



Before I say anything about nailing the shoe to the foot, I have 

 a few observations to offer on the nails usually employed for the 

 purpose, which are very defective in form and ill-contrived for 

 obtaining a firm and lasting hold, although I am bound to confess 

 that I have lately seen a manifest improvement in some of the 

 nails of commerce ; but the general run of them are made with 

 heads so short, square, and broad at the top, and so small and 

 narrow at the bottom, with shanks springing suddenly from them, 

 that the upper part becomes tied in the fuller before the lower 

 part has reached the bottom of the hole, and tlie consequence is, 

 that tlie bottom of the hole is occupied by the shank alone, and 

 before the shoe is worn out the head of the nail is gone, and little 

 more than a brad remains to retain the shoe. 



The smiths who shoe my horses make their own nails, and I 

 recommend others to do the like, at least for the better class of 

 horses ; it gives them an opportunity of choosing their rods, making 

 their nails of abetter shape, and cooling them more gradually than 

 the wholesale manufacturers do, whereby they are rendered tougher 



