MODERN BLACKSMITHING 



135 



roads or paved streets, the horse must be shod to pre- 

 vent a foot wear which nature cannot recuperate. 

 Horseshoes were first -made of iron in 480 A. D. 

 Before that time, and even after, horseshoes have 

 been made of leather and other materials. 



FIG. 52. — TOE AND SIDE WEIGHT AND PLAIN RACING PLATES, AS 

 MANUFACTURED BY BRYDEN HORSE SHOE CO. 



ANATOMY 



It is necessary in order to be a successful horse-shoer 

 to know something- about the anatomical construction 

 of the feet and legs of the horse. Of course, any little 

 boy can learn the names of the bones and tendons in 

 a horse's foot in an hour, but this does not make a 

 horse-shoer out of him. No board of examiners should 



