132 HORSE AND MAN. 



sole and the laminae, a much more serious conse- 

 quence than contraction could ever have produced.' 



The reader will not fail to notice that whereas the 

 hoof was intended by Nature to be nearly as hard as 

 iron, man, in his attempts to improve upon Nature, 

 does all in his power to soften it. 



The third device for permitting the expansion of 

 the hoof is the unilateral system, which has already 

 been briefly mentioned. Provided that the frog be 

 allowed to rest on the ground, and the shoe be not 

 carried round the toe, as it is in some instances, this 

 plan is fairly successful with the unshod side of the 

 hoof. But on the other side, as the expansile quarter 

 is connected with the non-expansile toe by a bar of 

 rigid iron, it is rendered immovable, and the value 

 of the frog is half lost. 



Still, though the unilateral system is certainly 

 better than the employment of a shoe which runs all 

 round the hoof, it cannot but have an injurious 

 effect on the hoof. That one side of the hoof should 

 be in its natural elastic condition, and the other 

 should be shod with unyielding iron, is necessarily 

 as annoying to a horse as it would be to a human 

 being. 



If the reader has followed my train of argument 

 he will see that if a shoe of any kind is to be nailed 

 upon the hoof, it ought to be confined to the front 



