110 SYSTEM FOE TEAINING CAVALRY HORSES. 



common nse are as badly formed as tliej can well 

 be ; their short, wedge-shaped heads, wide at the top 

 and narrow at the bottom, wdth shanks springing 

 suddenly from the head without any shoulder, and 

 ending in a long, narrow point, are most unsafe to 

 trust a shoe to. The head of such a nail can never 

 perfectly fill a hole in the shoe, for the wide top gets 

 tied either in the fuller, or the upper part of the 

 hole, before the lower part has reached the bottom ; 

 and when the shoe is half worn out, the head of the 

 nail is gone, and the shank alone is left in the hole to 

 keep the shoe on. ]^ow the nails should have heads 

 which are straight-sided at the upper part, and grad- 

 ually die away into the shank at the lower part, so 

 as to form a shoulder which will block the ojDening 

 made in "back-holing" the shoe, and keep the shoe 

 firmly in its place, until it is quite worn out. 



If you compare the two nails (vide plate 22), you 

 will at once see which promises the firmer hold. 



Your nails should be made of the very best nail- 

 rods you can get, and they should not be cooled too 

 quickly, but be left spread about to cool by degrees ; 

 the longer, in reason, they are cooling the tougher 

 they will become. 



Nailing on the Shoe, 



If the nails are of the proper shape, the holes 

 straight through the shoe, and the shoe fits the foot, 

 it requires very little skill to nail it on ; only put the 



