138 THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS 



and consequently lameness, were the certain effects. 

 Now, the natural consequence of this opinion has been 

 the stumbling block I alluded to in shoeing, giving 

 birth to the expansion shoe, the thin-heeled shoe, 

 and the artificial frog, which have, in their turns, 

 ruined many thousand horses. The reader may 

 exclaim, " Surely this is bold language ! " It may, 

 I allow, appear presumptuous in a humble individual 

 like myself to state my opinion in opposition to that 

 of such a man as Mr Coleman, to whom we are, after 

 all, indebted for laying down the first real principles 

 of veterinary science in this country ; by whose means 

 they have been conveyed to all parts of the kingdom ; 

 and to whom may be traced that light which has 

 recently and generally been thrown on the art which 

 he professes. We are all, however, wise after experi- 

 ence ; and my experience has fully demonstrated 

 that thick toes and thin heels will lame the soundest 

 horse that was ever foaled, when put to' severe work, 

 and that pressure on the frog is by no means essential 

 to, or a wide circular hoof by no means a proof of, 

 the soundness of the foot. 



With respect to the first of these positions, I have 

 often experienced a converse effect. I have more 

 than once had a horse in training, whose sinews 

 showed some symptoms of giving way ; when, on 

 lowering the toe and raising the heel, those sinews 

 have been relaxed, and the horse has gone on well 

 in his work. 



With regard to the frog, I am fully aware that 

 Nature never furnished an animal with such an organ 



