SHOEING. 195 



being secured by means of the rasp. When the shoe is fitted, 

 a by no means difficult task to the unskilled shoer, or even 

 to the amateur, a few taps of the hammer bend the clips on 

 to the outward surface of the wall of the hoof, causing the 

 points on the clips to enter the 

 horn as at (C). It will be ob- -^^^^ 



vious that by this arrangement 

 the natural growth is not inter- 

 fered with in the slightest de- 

 gree. The metal shoe being 

 a mere shell, is of course much 

 lighter than the ordinary run of 

 soUd shoe, and, as the pad pre- 

 vents slipping of the foot in action, the wear is materially 

 reduced, both points of highest importance. It appears to 

 me that shoes constructed on this principle and fitted in 

 grooves to the foot on the Charlier principle have very 

 decided claims to general adoption. In the case of brittle 

 feet, such as will not carry a nail, they cannot fail to be a 

 boon. Who has not heard of the "Peril of the nail?'' 

 At first I was sceptical as to the holding power of the claws 

 when tested by severe and continuous work, but all doubts 

 on this head have been set at rest by the testimony of 

 medical men and others who have been constantly using 

 them during the past severe winter, driving their horses 

 in them over hard macadam, granite, and wood pavements, 

 frozen hard and smooth as ice, as well as over stone setts, 

 without slipping or working loose. Many of the owners 

 find a vast improvement in their horses' feet. 



Some feet wear quicker and grow quicker than others, 

 some grow more sole than others. As a rule, shoes ought not 

 to be left on, without at least a remove, over three weeks. 

 Horses should, as a rule, be re-shod every five or six weeks. 



