184 SHOEING. 



acquiring an ill conformation : by a want of 

 proper correction they will very frequently 

 be found spreading to a long fiat thin foot, 

 which left to time will become irrecoverably 

 weak ; on the contrary, proportionally pared 

 at the bottom, shortened at the toe, and 

 rounded with the rasp, will constitute the 

 very kind of foot in shape and firmness of all 

 others the most desirable. 



Before we entirely dismiss this subject, a 

 few remarks upon the management of the feet 

 in stabled horses, cannot be considered inappli-* 

 cable to our present purpose of general utility. 

 First, it should be remembered, an equal in- 

 convenience arises from having horses un- 

 necessarily shod too often, or the ceremony 

 postponed too long ; the former by its fre- 

 quency, batters and breaks the hoof (parti- 

 cularly if of the brittle kind) iQ a perceptible 

 degree of injury ; the latter promotes an 

 awkward growth of the foot, an indentation 

 of the shoe upon the sole, or inner edge of the 

 hoof, and a probable destruction of the frog. 



Various opinions may have been supported 

 upon the propriety of stopping and oiling 



