HAPPY THOUGHTS. 139 



two inches in width, so that if man had deliberately 

 set himself to work to invent a plan of making the 

 horse's footing as insecure as possible, he could not 

 have been more successful. 



He has furnished the hoof with an elastic pad called 

 the ' Frog,' so as to prevent any jar when the horse 

 steps. 'Happy thought ! Let us cut away the pad and 

 make the horse's weight come upon a ring of iron.' 



This happy thought has another effect. The 

 Creator has constructed the hoof so that the ela- 

 borate and delicate mechanism of its interior can 

 only be kept in working order by the pressure of the 

 pad, or ' frog.' So by cutting away the frog in one 

 of his happy thoughts, man has contrived to stop 

 all this machinery (with the inevitable result to 

 machinery which is not allowed to work), and has 

 also managed to create exactly the jar which the 

 frog would have prevented. 



A third object has been attained by cutting away 

 the frog. As has already been shown, the frog 

 prevents the horse from falling on smooth and slip- 

 pery surfaces, and even enables it to gallop over ice. 

 So, by removing the frog, the chances of a horse's 

 falling are greatly multiplied. 



Again, the Sole of the hoof has been formed arch- 

 wise, of successive layers of exceedingly hard horn, 

 so as to perform a double office. In the first place 



