^39 



out again, which, oti account of the d'esceiity 

 it will not fail to do ; and when the feet are 

 washed and picked at night, or after a journey, 

 before the horse is put into the stable, any 

 sand or gravel will come out the more easy, on 

 account of this form of the shoe. Round the 

 extreme circumference of the shoe is where 

 the weight ought to lie, and this is demon- 

 strated by taking a horse with a fine foot, that 

 never v/as shod, and letting him walk on a 

 tough clay path ; he Vv'ill mark his foot ckurly 

 and deeply round the outward edge, but the 

 sole will scarcely make any impression, and 

 the bars and frog a very slight one. This plainly 

 shews where the weight naturally lies. 



Though a horse's foot be suinciently strong 

 to carry his own weight, and though the frog 

 and bars mark the soft ground under the foot 

 but slightly, yet no pressure, or at least very 

 little, should fall, or actually does fall, on tlM 

 part of the sole, and on the rest of the heart of 

 the sole there should be none. V/hen, there- 

 fore a horse is shod, and a load or rider put on 

 his back, the shoe ought to be so formed that 

 no part of the sole might touch it except the 

 outv/ard edge of the hoof ail round. The toe 



