82 THE HORSE. 



from the author of that valuable production, Tlie 

 Greijliound. lu his observations on contraction in 

 the foot of the horse, Stonehenge puts forward a new 

 idea, which appears to me both rational and un- 

 portant. "In many cases," says he, "contraction 

 comes on from improper shoeing, but not quite in the 

 way that is commonly supposed. It is said by most 

 of those who attribute its occuiTence to bad shoeing, 

 that when the shoe is allowed to remain on for more 

 than three weeks, the foot is bound within certain 

 limits, and cannot possibly expand, and therefore be- 

 comes contracted. But it is forgotten that in hundreds 

 of cases, with every care, and with constant removals, the 

 feet gradually assume the contracted condition. I am 

 satisfied that the cause is a very simple one. In 

 ninety-nine cases out of a hundi'ed the shoe is made 

 with the seating, or bevelled surface, carried out to the 

 heel, or veiy nearly so, instead of leaving fully half- 

 an-inch of the web perfectly level for the heel of the 

 foot to rest upon. Besides this defect, most smiths 

 make the shoe wider than the foot, whereby the heel 

 is placed still more upon this bevelled edge than it 

 othei-wise would be ; and the consequence is, that the 

 horse is constantly standing and working upon a bevelled 

 surface instead of on a flat one, and that surface has a 

 tendency to di'ive the heels in. It takes some months, 

 it is true, to produce the alteration ; but nevertheless, 

 though slow, it is sui-e, and if continued the horse is 



