134 THE ORANGE COUNTY 



enabling the animal to dig his foot more firmly into the 

 ground, and with more advantage throw his weight into the 

 collar; but it is an abominable and most injudicious practice 

 to place the calkin on one side alone, as is too often done: 

 an unequal direction and distribution of the weight and 

 bearing of the foot is often given, which is necessarily pro- 

 ductive of mischief. Few are the cases which will justify 

 the use of calkins on the fore feet, or even on the hind feet, 

 except they are of equal heigth on each foot; and few things 

 are more injurious to the foot of the horse than wearing the 

 same shoe more than three weeks or a month, let the work 

 be heavy or light. The shoe should never be heavier than 

 the work absolutely requires. This is acknowledged in the 

 shoe of the hunter and the racer, and will tell in the case of 

 every horse after a hard day's work. The calkin is required 

 on the outside of the hind shoes of hunters, to prevent them 

 from slipping at their leaps; but the inside of the shoe must 

 be made of a compensating thickness, to afford an even bear- 

 ing for the foot. 



The Bar Shoe 



is indispensable in most large stables. It is a very simple 

 contrivance, being nothing more than the continuation of the 

 common shoe over the heels. The bearing of the shoe may 

 thus be taken off from every weak and tender part of the 

 foot, and be either thrown on some other point which is bet- 

 ter able to bear the pressure, or diffused over the foot. It 

 is useful in some cases of bad corns, which are thus protected 

 from injury; in sand-crack, the pressure may be removed 

 from either or both sides of the fissure; pumiced feet may 

 be raised by this shoe above the possibility of injury; and in 

 thrush and in canker not only is the weight thrown off the 

 diseased part, but any kind of dressing may be easily retained 

 on the sore. It is a shoe, however, that cannot be safely used 

 for any considerable time, or, at least, it requires occasional 

 or even frequent change, on account of its becoming grad- 

 ually pressed down on the sore part beneath. Bar-shoes are 

 not safe for use when much speed is required, and they are 

 dangerous when frost is on the ground. 



The Tip 



is a very different kind of shoe. It reaches but half round 

 the crust. It is used when the horse is at rest; and, the 

 quarters of this shoe being unfettered, the contracted foot is 



