Sec. 8.] nORSES AND nOR3E-SIIOEIN'G. 113 



"Xo horse should have more than one foot hurcd at a time; however 

 strong his feet may happen to be, he is sure to stand quieter on a siiod foot 

 than he can on a bare one, and it will prevent his breaking the crust. A 

 hone witii weak Hat feet is in ])0sitive misery when forced to sustain his 

 whole weight on a bare foot, while the opjiosite foot is held up. 



" A strong foot with an arched sole, when the roads are in good order, 

 will require to have the toe shortened, the quarters and heels lowered, and 

 the sole pared, until it will yield in some sliglit degree to very hard pressure 

 from the thumb ; but on no account should it ever be pared thin einjugh to 

 yield to moderate pressure ; the angles formed by the crust and the bars at 

 the heels must be cleared out, and all the dead horn removed therefrom, and 

 the bars should be lowered nearly to a level with the sole. 



" A weak flat foot, on the contrary, will bear no shortening of the toe, and 

 very little paring or lowering anywhere ; the heels of such feet are sure to be 

 too low already, and the sole too thin ; in fact, the less that is done to them the 

 better beyond clearing out the dead horn from the angles at the heels, and 

 making the crust bear evenly on the shoo ; but the hollow between the bars 

 and the frog, or the frog itself, must never be touched by a knife in any foot, 

 whether it be a weak one or a strong one ; and as these latter directions 

 differ materially from the usual practice of smiths, I may, perhaps, be ex- 

 pected to state my reasons for wishing to enforce them in opposition to what 

 they no doubt consider a time-honored custom ; I mean the inveterate habit 

 they all have of trimming the frog, and oi>oning out the heels at every 

 shoeing ; but I think I shall be able to show that 'it is a custoni more hon- 

 ored in the breach than in the observance.' 



" The shoe should be neither too light nor too narrow in the web ; light 

 shoes are apt to bend before they are half worn out, and narrow-webbed 

 shoes expose the sole and frog to tmnecessary injury from stones in the road. 

 Every fore-shoe should be more or less seated on the foot-surface, to prevent 

 it pressing on and bruising the sole ; but a perfectly flat surface should be 

 ])reserved around the edge of the foot-surface of the shoe, from heel to heel, 

 for the crust to rest upon. The amomit of seating to be employed must bo 

 determined by the description of foot to be shod ; for instance, a broad foo*', 

 with a fiat sole and weak horn, will require a wide web, considerably seatcl, 

 to prevent it corning in contact with the sole and bruising it ; but a narrow 

 foot, with an arched solo and strong horn, will i-cquire less width of web 

 and less seating, otherwise the dirt and grit of the road ■wotihl become im- 

 pacted between the shoe and the sole, and cause as much pressure and injurv 

 as the iron would have done." 



JIany men who own and use horses seem to be indifferent as to the man- 

 ner in which they are shod, so much so that thcj- take them to any one who 

 can drive a nnil, leave cverytliing to liim, and take it for granted that if the 

 horse has got four good stout shoes on his feet that will stay on as long as 

 they last, it is all right. This is a great mistake, and will often lead to the 



discomfort and ultimate ruin of the horse. 



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