216 APPENDICES. 



Nature will adapt herself to circumstances. Horses bred 

 in Canadas or low swampy grounds have broad, flat feet. 

 The dampness of the soil keeps the horn soft, and the 

 weight of the horse expands it. Besides, there is nothing 

 hard to wear down the hoof all the better for the horse 

 as long as he has to go on wet, soft ground ; the exten- 

 sive surface of his foot gives him more support ; but 

 these kinds of hoofs need a good deal of dressing. We 

 generally used a chisel and mallet, making the horse 

 stand on a hard bit of ground, and cutting the hoof, 

 sometimes only at the toe, but more frequently at the 

 sides also. In the northern provinces the natives often 

 cut them square at the toe. Our favourite horses gene- 

 rally got a finishing touch with rasp and draw knife. The 

 hind feet seldom required much doing to them. In dry 

 weather the hoofs get very hard, and the mallet must be 

 used with considerable force. White hoofs are much 

 softer than black ones. With a moderately tame horse 

 there is very little trouble connected with keeping his 

 feet in good order. The rasp and draw knife are all that 

 is needed, and hard ground will keep them in good shape 

 without much labour expended on them. Although I 

 have not tried the experiment in this country, I have 

 little doubt of its success. Keep a young horse's feet 

 trim, and use him in the fields at first, and then by 

 degrees on the hard road, and his hoofs will soon suit 

 themselves to the nature of the ground. Fortunately 

 our ancestors did not shoe their dogs and cats, or, in all 

 probability, most of us would do so in the present day. 



Of course the veterinaries and smiths will, in self- 

 defence, predict utter ruination to the feet of unshod 

 horses, and 80 per cent, of horse owners will refuse to 

 give up shoeing because it was never done in the old 

 days, and they cannot be bothered with trying anything 



