ROUGHING 



451 



EOUGHING 



In winter some addition to the ordinary shoe is necessary to prevent 

 horses from slipping on ice and snow. In Great Britain the weather is 

 so changeable that a regular provision for frost is seldom made, as it is 

 in countries where ice and snow prevail for weeks or months at a stretch. 

 Here our roads are covered with ice and snow with very little notice, 

 and may be free again in a day or two. Horse-owners therefore provide 



i 



Fig. 646.— Frost-nails 



temporary arrangements to meet the short, occasional spells of slippery 

 weather. The most temporary method of affording foothold is by the 

 use of what are called frost-nails. These appliances are very similar to 

 the ordinary horse-shoe nail but with a larger head, and brought to a sharp 

 point or to a chisel-edge. The smaller ones may be driven into the 

 holes from which a nail has been removed. The larger are only used 

 at the heels in an extra hole specially provided for them. These holes 

 are punched through the heels of the shoe, which is fitted a little wider 

 than usual, so that a fro.st - nail when driven does not enter the hoof 

 at all, but passes through the shoe, and is fixed by being twisted over 

 the shoe. Frost - nails are very useful for an emergency, but not for 

 continued use. 



When frosty weather looks as though it were to continue for some 



