CHAPTER YIII. 

 SHOEING REFRACTORY HORSES. 



107. Most horses that can be classed as refractory in shoeing have 

 been brought to this condition by improper handling when green 

 and unaccustomed to the sights and sounds of a shoeing shop. 



"When a young horse has been assigned to an organization, a com- 

 mon practice is to send him at once to the shop with ijistructions 

 that he be shod by quiet means if possible, but by force if necessary. 



No gi'eater e\il exists in the mounted service. It is as much 

 our duty to gradually train a young horse to submit to shoeing 

 as it is to patiently drill him to sm'render to the bit and to work 

 in the saddle or harness. 



Summary methods not only ruin the horse's disposition, but 

 subject the shoer to constant danger of injury. 



108. Shoeing young horses.— The first step should be to teach 

 the young animal that raising his feet will do him no harm, and this 

 lesson should be given at the first grooming. The method of raising 

 the forefoot and the hind foot, as explained in this manual, should 

 be thoroughly understood by all enlisted men and be a part of the 

 instruction of every recruit. 



■WTien the young horse siu-renders his foot, lower it again quietly 

 and pat him; later use the brush on the soles of his feet; next tap 

 the soles lightly "with the currycomb; finally, take the sheer's posi- 

 tion and go through the same steps. This complete instruction may 

 be a matter of a day or of many days, depending upon the animal's 

 disposition, but it should not be slighted nor hurried. 



In the department of equitation at the Mounted Service School 

 the following method is used with young horses that are disposed 

 to kick when their hind legs are first handled . The horse is equipped 

 with a cavesson, which is held by the animal's trainer. A surcingle 

 is placed around the girth. The man that grooms the horse takes 

 hold of the surcingle with the inside hand, in order to move with 

 the horse and be secure against injury. With the outside hand he 



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