76 HORSE AND MAN. 



The result of all this experience is that the Hart- 

 mann's pad was invented. It is liable to neither 

 of these defects, is very lasting, but is, after all, 

 nothing more or less than an artificial reproduction 

 of the natural pad which the farrier has cut away 

 in unthinking obedience to routine. As to expense, 

 this pad does not cost much, and when it is worn 

 out, another can be procured at a small price. But 

 the natural pad, or frog, which is necessarily far 

 superior to any imitation, costs nothing at all, and 

 never can be worn out, because it has the faculty 

 of reproducing itself as fast as it is worn away. 



I noticed that in America the fact that the frog 

 ought to come to the ground is more generally 

 recognised than is the case in England. But even 

 there the shoe is, as a rule, nailed upon the wall, so 

 that the frog has to grow to an abnormal extent 

 before it can reach the ground, and therefore does 

 not have fair play. The only shoe which really 

 recognises the duties of the frog, and does not inter- 

 fere with them, is the ' Charlier,' which will pre- 

 sently be described, 



As for any fear that the frog may be injured 

 by contact with the ground, it may be dismissed 

 from our minds. As was well pointed out by 

 ' Kangaroo,' in The Field newspaper, it is impos- 

 sible for a horse to become footsore in the frog, 



