TREATISE ON HORSESHOEING. 



THE main object should be to have the shoe 

 so formed as to size, weight, fitting, and fasten- 

 ing, as to combine the most advantages of pro- 

 tection, and preserve the natural tread of the 

 foot the best* In weight, it should be propor- 

 tioned to the work or employment of the horse. 

 The foot should not be loaded with more iron 

 than is necessary to preserve it. If the work 

 of the horse is principally on the road, at heavy 

 draught, the shoe should be rather heavy, in 

 order that it may not be bent by contact with 

 hard, uneven earth ; it should be wide in the 

 web, and of equal thickness and width from the 

 toe to the heel, that it may as much as possible 

 protect the sole,- without altering the natural 

 position of the foot ; it should be well drawn in 

 at the heels, that it may rest on the bars, thereby 

 protecting the corn place, or angles between the 



