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CHAPTER XL 



Shoeing. 



'■' Xo foot, no horse." Arabian maxim. 



I do not propose to inflict the reader with a long and 

 scientific description of the anatomy and functions of 

 the horse's foot — the most important organ, from a rider's 

 point of view, of his body. Undoubtedly the usefulness of 

 the domesticated horse is mainly due to the strength, 

 elasticity, and perfect soundness of the hoof; the feet^ 

 therefore, should always be objects of particular attention 

 to the horseman. We daily see horses lamed and crippled 

 by the ignorance and crass carelessness of shoeing-smiths, 

 and undoubtedly navicular disease, a predisposition to fevers 

 in the feet, and contraction are much more in evidence than 

 formerly. A close study of the horse's foot will well repay 

 any one who is " concerned about horses," and to those 

 disposed to read up the interesting subject, I can strongly 

 recommend Dr. George Fleming's standard work on 

 "Horse-shoes and Horse-shoeing," and a very instruc- 

 tive pamphlet from the pen of Professor G. T. Brown on 

 the " Structure of the Horse's Foot, and the Principles of 

 Shoeing," reprinted from the Journal of the Royal Agricul- 

 tural Society of England. 



In order to clearly explain the remarks we are about 

 to make, the following two diagrams of the structure of the 

 horse's hoof are necessary. The one represents the sole, 

 or ground surface, of the foot, the other the horny box or 

 " horn-shoe," as it is appropriately termed. In Fig. i, 



