42 



THE MODERN SYSTEM 



ooi?e which arises frotn Horses which 

 strike, and which, at times, is almost beyond 

 bearing;. 



When Horses, newly shod or removed, go 

 unpleasant or unsafe, which before went safe 

 and well, which is frequently the case, it is 

 reasonable to suppose the shoes are not put on 

 properly. I have seen Horses, on being- re- 

 moved from the farrier's shop, go as if crip- 

 pled every step, and, to all appearance, they 

 with difficulty were kept up to prevent them 

 from falling. The slioes, to all appearance, 

 seem well put on, and, to the eye, the nails 

 appeared driven in properly, so as not to touc<n 

 on the sensible part of the foot; but this arises 

 from the shoe not having an equal bearing ; 

 that is to say, not equal at the heels as at the 

 toe : but I have no objection to the shoe bear- 

 ing on the outer heel, but not by any means on 

 the heel and quarters inside ; for if this be the 

 case, you will assuredly produce corn, contrac- 

 tion of the hoof, thrush, &c., &c. I think 

 these cases are most likely to happen where 

 you caution the shoeing smith not to put the 

 shoe hot to the foot ; for though I do not ap- 

 prove of the shoe being so iiot, as to sear the 

 foot, to fit the shoe, yet the application of the 

 shoe, moderately hot, to shew where the shoe 

 bears, and where it does not, that the rasp 

 may take down some places till the bearing 

 becomes equal : this is a less evil than putting 

 tne shoe on at hazard, v.here there is not 

 equal bearing on the outer side and toe. The 

 driving the clenches down over much, may 

 cause pain and uneasiness, but it is not likely 

 -o pinch when the shoe sits solid, as when it 

 does ; for this reason, in shoeinjj Horses, I 

 always advise but tiio iiails to be driven in the 

 inside, and those two next the toe: by this 

 ineaiis^ you do not draiv or tcarp the slioe ; for, 



you must recollect, the shoe not being elastic, 

 atid it being nailed to an elastic body, some- 

 thing must give way, and the elastic body 

 sooner than the non-elastic : and, furthei, tbw 

 occasions the shoe frequently to break, and, 

 what is most singular, the breakage almost 

 always takes place at the quarters where the 

 most elasticity exists ; clearly proving that there 

 is not so much fault in the iron, as the confine- 

 ment by the shoe of the elastic part of the 

 hoof: but this you canr.ot persuade the old 

 shoeing smiths to believe ; and it has not been 

 until of late years, when regular educated 

 veterinary surgeons kept shoeing forges, that 

 ail these errors have been exploded, though not 

 to the benefit of the surgeon, so much as the 

 Horse ; for it is rarely that any profit is obtained 

 from a shoeins: foroe thouoh it is an adac^e 

 amongst veterinary surgeons, " If you get a 

 Horse's foot, you get his whole body :" this I 

 have, in numbers of instances, proved ; but 

 one, in particular, I cannot help relating. J 

 was called in to see a cart-horse, belonging to 

 a gentleman at Kennington, that was affected 

 with inflammation of the lungs : the Horse 

 was exceedingly ill, held down liis head, ap 

 peared sleepy, and, indeed, put on all the 

 symptoms of the disease he was labouring 

 under. The farrier was sent for who had 

 been attending to him for the previous three 

 days. On consulting with Mr. Farrier, rela- 

 tive to the disease, he could not be persuaded 

 but the disease lay in the Horse's head, on 

 which he had placed an immense bran poul- 

 tice ; and so mucn was the owner of the 

 Horse persuaded by this man, that my services 

 were declined, and, as a matter of course, the 

 Horse died on the moriow. Another case 1 

 will mention, which was, a Horse 1 was sent 

 for to in Lambeth ; the shoeing smith here had 



