32 



THE SHOEING OF HORSES. 



weighing from fifteen to twenty hundredweights, are rarely less 

 (we speak of the Manchester shoe) than sixteen or eighteen 

 pounds weight ; they are made out of bars of iron i J inches wide 

 by 9-i6ths of an inch in thickness. The shoe, when formed and 

 hammered out, will average a little over 3-8ths of an inch in 

 thickness; width across the web, at its widest part, if inches. 



The toe piece is made of iron one inch in thickness ; the 

 heels are made by turning the metal upon its own substance, and 

 they are generally about one inch and a quarter in depth. This 

 shoe is usually secured to the foot by eight or ten nails. A curve 

 cannot well be given to the toe of the shoe to be efficient, but the 

 same practical result is obtained by having the caulks a trifle 

 higher or deeper than the toe piece ; by this means the lift from 

 toe to heel is far less severe than if the shoe was level from toe 

 to heel. The nail holes are always punched. It is more common 

 amongst draught horses to wear the shoes in an irregular manner 

 than amongst horses of a higher breed. Sometimes the wear is 

 almost exclusively confined to the outside quarter ; sometimes 

 to the inside quarter; while, in other cases, the wear is more 

 peculiar still, viz., to the outside quarter of the fore feet, and the 

 inside quarter of the hind feet ; or the reverse of this. Where 

 these peculiarities exist it is easy to provide against them to some 

 extent, by affording greater thickness to the shoe at those parts, 

 and also by the provision of additional clips. Where the wear of 

 the shoe is most heavy a clip may be necessary, the use of which 

 is to prevent the foot from leaving the shoe. 



To horses that are coarse bred and bulky in stature, where 

 the roads are long and heavy, the country hilly, and the streets 



