80 



CAUSES OF INJURY. 



This horse had very strong feet, one of which was smaller than the other, with the 

 toe turning out and the frog almost wasted. The bars of the foot, before he was 

 turned out, were scarcely visible, but upon examining them after he had been out 



Fig. 602. — Bearing-surface of Shoe to 

 Prevent Striking. 



Fig. 603. — Forward Shoe to Prevent 

 Striking. 



about three months, they were found to have increased surprisingly. Notwithstanding 

 this, they were not strong enough to counteract the pressure of the quarters ; and 

 the foot itself seemed to be rather decreased, which is contrary to what is usual ; for 

 after having been turned out for a certain time, they generally become larger. So 

 particular a case led me to turn my mind to a 

 particular method of cure. This I should hardly 

 have found out, if chance had not at that time 

 put into my hands Lieutenant Moor's "Narrative 

 of Captain Little's Detachment." On page 93 of 

 this book is the following passage : — 



"'The bigotry with which all sects of the 

 Hindoos adhere to their own customs is very 

 well known ; still when these customs are strik- 

 ingly injudicious, and totally abstracted from 

 all religious prejudices, perseverance degenerates 

 into obstinacy, and simplicity into ignorance. 

 So it is with the Mahrattas in abiding by their 

 present practice of cutting the hoof and shoeing 

 horses; they cutaway the hinder part of the hoof 

 in such a manner that the pastern almost touches 

 the ground, and the frog is suffered to grow so 

 that the hoof is nearly a circle, in which form 

 the shoes are made, the hinder parts almost 

 touching, and so thin that a person of ordinary 

 strength can easily twist them. Instead of making the back part of the shoe thick- 

 est, they hammer it quite thin, making the fore part thickest, and the shoe, grad- 

 ually becoming thinner, ends in an edge.' 



Fig. 604. — Shoe to Prevent Inter- 

 fering or Clicking. 



