SOFT ROADS NOT BEST FOR THE HORSE. 189 



annoyed with flies, as much as when he is walking ; 

 and the stones which are thus spread about will 

 strengthen the frogs of his feet. He that gives 

 trial to this suggestion will give credit to others 

 which I shall offer, and will see the feet of his horse 

 become firm.' 



Paul Louis Courier translated Xenophon's treatise, 

 and was so impressed with its inculcations that he 

 put them to the proof by riding unshod horses in 

 the Calabrian campaign of 1807, and he found them 

 right. Does not this look as if we have been 

 striving to know better than our masters, and hunt- 

 ing to heel, or peering through the wrong end of 

 the telescope ? The ' Cavalry Officer ' before quoted 

 had got hold of the right end of the thing, and so 

 have a few others who have given their experience 

 to empty air from time to time. 



The unshod horse can successfully deal with all 

 roads. Those that are soft, and have to be travelled 

 over continually, are the worst for him ; but Xeno- 

 phon shows us how to meet even this difficulty, by 

 making him stand at every opportune moment upon 

 the roughest material we can find for paving. How 

 opposed is it to the opinions and ideas of the present 

 age, that a horse could be benefited by dancing 

 about upon loose shingle of the size of an orange, 

 whilst he was being groomed outside a stable that 

 was intentionally roughly paved for the purpose of 

 giving as much attrition as possible, in even waste 

 time. 



Xenophon did not write upon theory, but gave 



