294 



Horseshoeiiifj. 



behind. The best way of dealing with this bit is to pull some 

 oakum out straight, twist it once or twice, fold it in the centre, 

 then dip it in tar and press it into the cleft, and carry the 

 straggling ends across the frog, to mix with the mass on the side 

 of it. Oakum is a much better material for stopping the feet 

 than tow. 



The usual mode of stopping the feet is to take a large wad of 



tow and spread it over the 

 whole of the sole and frog 

 in one mass, which is most 

 objectionable, inasmuch as 

 it causes a constant pres- 

 sure on the frog, which is 

 just Aviiatthe stopping, to be 

 at all useful, should prevent. 

 Fig. 10 shows the stopping, 

 projierly placed in the foot, 

 and fig. 11 shows the appear- 

 ance the same foot would 

 present when properly shod 

 witli leather. — Just as I had 

 proceeded thus far with my 

 suliject, I received a letter 

 from a gentleman in the nortli 

 of Devon, containing the fol- 

 lowing anecdote, and as it 

 bears on the matter I have 

 in hand, I will at once record 

 it. He appears to be a zea- 

 lous advocate for the system 

 of shoeing I have recom- 

 mended, which I gather from 

 his letters, for I have not the 

 pleasure of his acquaintance. 

 He tells me that a short time 

 ago he sent his bailiff to a sale 

 some ten miles off, and di- 

 rected him to take a very hot 

 pony he possesses, which had 

 never been previously used 

 excepting in the plough : this 

 pony was shod with only 

 four nails in each fore shoe, 

 and he cast one of them by the way. The bailiff took him to 

 the nearest forge and told the smith to put on another, and at the 



Fig. 10. 



Fig. 11. 



