THE GREAT THICK-SKINNED ANIMALS 



177 



hard and soft ground, for traveling over rocks and stones, and for 

 climbing steep ascents, over which it would seem impossible that such 

 an animal as the horse could ever pass. If you could examine a horse 

 which had never been touched by the shoer or blacksmith, you would 

 lind that there is not only an outer ring of horn, but also an inner 

 cushion, called the "frog," which rests upon the ground, and gives the 

 foot a wonderfully secure hold. 



A horse which has never been shod can gallop over ice and never 



THE HORSE— AN ARAB STEED 



Noted for its beauty, strength, speed and its affection for its master 



slip, and can climb the side of a steep mountain which man himself can 

 scarcely ascend. He can travel for scores of miles over the roughest 

 and hardest ground, or can live in a soft and marshy district in which 

 his feet sink deeply into the soil at almost every step. And yet, 

 although they are in continual use, his hoofs will never wear out faster 

 than they are renewed by nature; and, if we could examine them on 

 the day of the horse's death, we should find that they were just as 

 sound and useful as when their owner was but just beginning life. 



