182 Oil the General Treatment of the Feet, 



Nevertheless^ in cases of very lo^y and weak heels, it may be 

 made a little thicker at the heel than at the toe, with ^reat advantage. 

 Though, however^ it must be admitted, that the use of the thin- 

 heeled Shoe did not produce all the advantages which were expected 

 ffom it, but, on the contrar}^, that it was found to be decidedly de- 

 trimental to several Horses, yet, on the other hand, I am quite sa- 

 tisfied that the evils which it produced have been much exaggerated. 



For, if it failed in preventing contractioji of the heels and quar- 

 ters, to the extent which v/as sanguinely predicted of it, or, even, 

 if some Horses were found to be decidedly injured by its use, yet 

 that it served to procrastinate contraction, and to prevent Corns, run- 

 ning Thrushes, and Canker, in conjunction with the rules which 

 >vere laid down for its application, I think there can be no manner of 

 question. The amount of the argument, I apprehend to be tlsis, 

 that a principle, good in itself, was carried to an extreme, and thus 

 the frog having more duty assigned to it than nature intended it to 

 jierform, some evils followed as an inevitable consequence of the 

 practice. — But, most of the cardinal axioms which Mr. Coleman 

 has laid down as principles of Siioeing, remain in full and undimi- 

 nished force, not to be sliaken by any speculative opinions, having 

 stood the test of nearly twenty years experience. They may be com- 

 prised chiefly, I imagine, under the following heads, namely, that the 

 Frog and Bars shall be scrupulously preserved — that the Shoe shall 

 rest on the under edge of the crust and bars alone, and touch the sole 

 at no single point, — that the sole shall be carefully removed with the 

 drawing knife, and hollowed out sufficiently to allow the picker to 

 pass all round from the point of the toe to the extreme angle of the 

 "heel, where the concavity ought to be greater than at any other part. 



