A GENEROUS OFFER. 169 



of keep being paid. But none have sufficient faith ! 

 Should any one you know be inclined to send me a 

 horse, it would have my undivided attention, and be 

 another test of the perfect success of my scheme. 



' I must ask you to accept on my word the fol- 

 lowing advantages derived from my own experience : 



' 1. Five or six pounds per annum are saved by 

 non-shoeing, including the frost nails in winter. 



4 2. I can gallop " Stella " on a road covered with 

 ice, when other horses are not safe even with the use 

 of frost nails. 



' 3. The weight of the shoes is taken off the feet, 

 which is a considerable help to the horse. 



' 4. The foot, being flat from the frog, and down 

 to the ground, leaves no receptacle for stones. 



' 5. . There is none of the unnecessary jar caused 

 by the shoes, so that the horse travels freer and 

 lighter.' 



No question of theory can arise in this instance. 

 The fact is, that the horse has been regularly working 

 unshod over some of the most trying roads in Eng- 

 land. The theory is, that no horse can perform such 

 a task, or that, if so. the animal must be an exceptional 

 one. Mr. Baker, resting on fact, generously offers to 

 take any horse that may be sent to him, and to make 

 its hoofs as sound as those of ' Stella.' Mr. A. F. 

 Astley, also resting on facts, made his first experiment 



