354 FELT OR LEATHER SOLES. 



tion and swelling of the felt or leather from the effect of moisture 

 or dryness will soon render the attachment of the shoe less firm — 

 there will be too much play upon the nails — ^the nail-holes will en- 

 large, and the crust will be broken away. 



After wounds or extensive bruises of the sole, or where the sole 

 is thin and flat and tender, it is sometimes covered with a piece 

 f leather, fitted to the sole, and nailed on with the shoe. This 

 may be allowed as a temporary defence of the foot ; but there is 

 the same objection to its permanent use for the insecurity of 

 fastening, and the strain on the crust, and the frequent chipping 

 of it. There are also these additional inconveniences, that if the 

 hollow between the sole and the leather is filled with stopping 

 and tow, it is exceedingly difficult to introduce them so evenly 

 and accurately as not to produce partial or injurious pressure. A 

 few days' work will almost invariably so derange the padding, as 

 to cause unequal pressure. The long contact of the sole with 

 stopping of almost every kind, will produce not a healthy, elastic 

 horn, but that of a scaly, spongy nature — and if the hollow is not 

 thus filled, gravel and dirt will insinuate themselves, and eat into 

 and injure ihe foot.^ 



* Note hy Mr. Spooner. — [Mr. Spooner's note contains nothing not given 

 more fully in the text. After some remarks on the diversities of opinion on 

 the subject of shoeing, he expresses the following opinions :] Some horses 

 have so strong a development of the horny structure of the foot, that a con- 

 siderable portion requires to be removed at each shoeing, whilst others re- 

 quire, if it were possible, horn to be added, for in them the wear is gieater 

 than the growth. Some horses have a tendency to high heels, others to low 

 ones ; some require the toe of the foot to be/educed every month, in others 

 there is not a particle to spare. In some horses the frog is so large and 

 gross that it requires considerable paring, in others it can only be very care- 

 fully removed. We find the sole in some horses so thin and flat, that the 

 shoe must be seated considerably to prevent its pressing on the sole, whilst 

 in others the sole is so strong and concave, that it is a matter of indifference 

 whether the shoe is seated at all, except for the purpose of rendering it 

 lighter. With this endless diversity in horses' feet, how is it possible to lay 

 down any fixed plan for shoeing all horses alike ? All that can be done is to 

 take an average foot, and consider what sort of shoe is best suited for it, 

 and so alter or modify such shoe as to adapt it to other feet according to 

 their peculiarities. 



There is no better shoe for a saddle or light harness horse on the road 

 5han one of moderate weight, rather less than an inch in breadth, seated on 

 ilie foot surfiice, with five nails on the outside quarter and toe, and two or 

 •-hree on the inside and near the toe. A clip at the toe and another at the 

 mter quarter Avill be a useful addition; and if the shoe is required to be 

 '.ight, then one or even two nails may be dispensed with. By means of 

 such a slioe the foot will be secured from contraction, and the inside heel in 

 great measure from corns. The shoe should be of equal tliickness at the 

 heel as at the toe, and the web should be narrower at the former than the 

 latter situation. If the heels of the foot are very low, it will be prudent to 

 make the heels of the shoe somewhat thicker than the toe, and vice versfti 



