174 HORSE AND MAN. 



hoof is worn away by friction upon hard ground, the 

 growth is faster, in order to keep pace with the 

 waste. .Keeping these two facts in mind, remember- 

 ing that all the nail-holes must have grown out, and 

 not forgetting the idiosyncrasy of the animal, the 

 trainer can form a very fair judgment of the time 

 which must elapse before the hoofs can do their full 

 work on hard roads. That the softest and worst 

 hoof can be strengthened for shoeless work is shown 

 by Mr. Baker's experience and challenge. 



Let me again remind the reader that I am dealing 

 with facts and not with theories. 



Here are more facts. 



The manager of one of our tram-car lines wrote, 

 under the nom deplume of ' Humane,' a very remark- 

 able letter, which is given in full in Appendix K of 

 ' Horses and Eoads.' I possess the real name of the 

 writer. He begins by saying, that he has to manage 

 a working staff of thirty horses, whose work is on 

 stone-paved roads, and who have to run about 

 eighteen miles per diem, at an average rate of six 

 miles an hour, stoppages included. Each of the 

 shoes which these horses formerly wore weighed 

 nearly two pounds, and the animals very soon took 

 to brushing and cutting, and then began to ' go over 

 on the knees.' 



Suspecting that the fault lay in the shoe and not 



