Horseslioeinfj. 



291 



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and less liable to break. The head of the nail should be oblong- 

 on the top, straight-sided at the upper part, and die away gradually 

 into the shank with a broadish shouldei', to fill the opening made 

 by " back-holeing " the shoe ; hence the necessity for these open- 

 ings beinglarger and freer than they are usually made. A nail so 

 formed will always retain the semblance of a head, and can never 

 be reduced to a mere headless brad. The shank should be less 

 taper, and the point less elongated, than those of the nails in 

 common use ; the shorter point and broader shank supply a firmer 

 and better clench. Fig. 7 represents the two 

 nails I have been endeavouring to describe ; 

 but a comparison of the letters attached to each 

 will perhaps convey more clearly what I mean 

 than my words may have done. When the 

 nail-holes are in the right places and pass 

 straight through the shoe, and the shoe has 

 been properly fitted to the foot, the difficulty 

 of nailing it on is reduced to nothing, and 

 might almost be handed over to a carpenter to 

 do with as much confidence as to a smith ; the 

 nails have only to be driven straight, and they 

 must pass through the shoe, across the sub- 

 stance of the horn, avoid the sensitive parts 

 altogether, and come out in their right places, 

 presenting the strongest portion of the shank 

 for a clench, instead of the thin narrow 

 point ; the smith has then only to twist off f,v. 7. 



the projecting portion of the nails, cut a 

 notch in the hoof to receive the turned-down clench, 

 bury it with his hammer in the notch so formed, and not touch 

 it again with a rasp ; in fact, a rasp should on no account what- 

 ever be applied to the surface of the hoof above the clenches ; it 

 tears and destroys nature's covering, designed to keep the horn 

 moist and tough, and renders it dry and brittle. 



I shall, no doubt, astonish some persons when I assert that nearly 

 all the evils incident to horse-shoeing are attributable to the affect- 

 ation and dandyism of the smith, who is not contented to follow a 

 necessary and useful art, simple in its mechanical parts, but calling 

 for the exercise of some judgment in its application, but he must 

 import into it dangerous difficulties and mischievous ornament ; 

 for instance, he assumes that a deep narrow fuller, with small nail- 

 holes inclining inwards, and still smaller openings on the foot 

 surface of the shoe, present a neat, trim appearance, and show that 

 he is master of his art ; knowing full well, that nothing but long 

 practice could enable any one to navigate a nail safely through a 

 channel beset by so many dangers ; but he entirely overlooks the 



and 



