CUTTING THE HOOF. 107 



low foot, may have it made a little thinner at the 

 heel than at the toe ; and if the foot is black, 

 strong, and well open, another nail may be put 

 on the outer side for hunting, &c. ; but, out of 

 some hundreds of feet, I have found the outside 

 very nearly as often contracted as the inside. 

 The hind shoe has the nails rather farther back, 

 and the toe is a little squared. 



The weight of this shoe is about six ounces, 

 and by reducing the thickness a little it will 

 weigh about ^yo ounces, which will be a proper 

 training shoe. It must not project the least 

 beyond the heel, but be there nicely rounded, or 

 the hind foot in the gallop may possibly come 

 in contact with it, and the horse be thrown, or 

 the shoe wrenched off. The ground surface of 

 the toe of the hind shoe should also be filed a 

 little, to take off the edge, as a further pre- 

 caution. 



CUTTING THE HOOF. 



The foot having been soaked in water to render 

 it soft, the sung-turash is to be used very sparingly 

 — not at all for a flat foot ; for if too much of the 

 bottom of the crust is first taken off, there may 

 not be sufficient horn left in the sole to make it 

 properly concave : then with the drawing-knife 



