376 VICIOUS TO SHOE. 



although, when they are carried a little too far, and at the liaz 

 ard of the limbs of the groom, the animals that have been almost 

 tutored into these expressions of irritation are brutally kicked and 

 punished. 



This, however, is a vice that may be conquered. If the horse 

 is dressed with a lighter hand, and wisped rather than brushed, 

 and the places where the skin is most sensitive are avoided as 

 much as thorough cleanliness will allow, he will gradually lose 

 the recollection of former ill-treatment, and become tractable and 

 quiet.* 



VICIOUS TO SHOE. 



The correction of this is more peculiarly the business of the 

 smith ; yet the master should diligently concern himself with it, 

 for it is oftener the consequence of injudicious or bae usage than 

 of natural vice. It may be expected that there will be some dif 

 ficulty in shoeing a horse for the first few times. It is an opera- 

 tion that gives him a little uneasiness. The man to whom he is 

 most accustomed should go with him to the forge ; and if anothei 

 and steady horse is shod before him, he may be induced more 

 readily to submit. It cannot be denied that, after the habit of 

 resisting this necessary operation is formed, force may sometimes 

 be necessary to reduce our rebellious servant to obedience ; but 

 we unhesitatingly affirm that the majority of horses vicious to 

 shoe are rendered so by harsh usage, and by the pain of correc- 

 tion being added to the uneasiness of shoeing. It should be a 

 rule in every forge that no smith should be permitted to strike a 

 horse, much less to twitch or to gag him, without the master-far- 

 rier's order ; and that a young horse should never be twitched or 

 struck. There are few horses that may not be gradually ren- 

 dered manageable for this purpose by mildness and firmness in 

 the operator. They will soon understand that no harm is meant, 

 and they will not forget their usual habit of obedience ; but if 

 the remembrance of corporal punishment is connected with shoe- 

 ing, they will always be fidgety, and occasionally dangerous. t 



* Note by Mr. Spooner. — In some instances the skin is so irritable that 

 the horse really endures a great deal of misery ever}' time he is cleaned, 

 besides expending a great deal of muscular exertion needlessly. The rem- 

 edy for this is very simple ; instead of being currycombed and wiped, he 

 should be simply washed over with warm water on his coming in warm 

 from a journey, then gently scraped and covered with a rug. The warmth 

 of the body will very soon dry the skin. 



f Note by Mr. Spooner. — ^This is certainly a very bad vice, and one, in- 

 deed, that very materially diminishes the value of the horse, for it is a habit 

 that generally gets worse at each time of shoeing, ft is not so much the 

 kicking of the horse that is to be feared, but the animal will bear his whole 



