110 THE REV. J. G. WOOD. 



" PRESTON, 2Sth April, 1887. 

 " DEAR SIR, 



" Through reading about ' Unshod Horses ' in your book 

 ' Horse and Man,' my father and I decided to try the experiment ; 

 and on the 3rd or 4th of January of this year we had the shoes 

 taken off one of our ponies (aged seven), and commenced to prepare 

 it for running without them, as advised in your book. Since the 

 beginning of March it has done its ordinary work without shoes, 

 and I have driven as many as forty miles in the day without any 

 damage to the hoof. 



" To-day our man has been down to Lytham, thirteen miles 



distant, and on the road he was stopped by Inspector T , of 



the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and 

 told that we must have the shoes put on again, as in the Inspector's 

 opinion running without shoes was cruelty to animals. 



" We feel much inclined to persevere in our course, and should 

 be much obliged if you could give us any assistance or information 

 in the event of the Inspector taking action. 

 " Awaiting the favour of your reply, 

 " I am, 



" Yours sincerely, 



J H. T ." 



This letter with the exception of the concluding 

 paragraphs is a type of several which my father 

 received, and of which he was very proud, never letting 

 an opportunity pass of referring to them in his sketch- 

 lectures or his magazine articles. For he was by no 

 means satisfied with attacking the many abuses of horse 

 management merely in a book, which would, and could, 

 be read only by a very small proportion of the com- 

 munity. The new teaching, if it were to prosper and 

 to bear fruit, could not be too widely spread ; and so 

 a special sketch-lecture was prepared, and special 

 magazine articles from time to time written upon the 



