76 THE HORSE OWNEr's 



fastened by five nails, nothing but the smith's pincers can 

 pull it off." While we agree in the main with Mr. Miles 

 in his practical directions upon the subject of shoeing, 

 yet we think he is in error with regard to the number of 

 nails required to fasten the shoe firmly. It is contrary to 

 the experience of most practical men, who find that with 

 less than three nails an the inside and four on the out 

 the shoe is very liable to come off. They need not be 

 placed so wide apart as Mr. Miles recommends, and will 

 not, therefore, be carried any farther back towards the 

 heels than when only five are used according to his plan. 

 "Having cut ofl' the heels and opened the nail holes, you 

 must next turn up a clip at the toe. Every shoe should 

 have one at the toe, it keeps the shoe steady, and pre- 

 vents its being forced back. But you should never put 

 one at either side, for if it were put on the inside, it would 

 prevent the hoof expanding, and on the outside it is worse 

 than useless, for the nails there are quite sufficient to keep 

 the shoe from working across the foot, and the clip will 

 interfere with the placing of one of the nails, and will de- 

 stroy more of the crust than two nails would have done." 



FITTIK"G THE SHOE. 



You must always bear in mind that "fitting the shoe" 

 means fitting the shoe to the foot, and not fitting the foot 

 to the shoe, as is too often done in many forges. It is a 

 bad plan for a beginner to try to fit the whole of the shoe 

 at once. It is much better till you have had a good deal of 

 practice, to fit the toe first, then the quarters, and lastly 

 the heels. But before you begin to fit the toe, take a 

 look at the old shoe, and see how much of the toe of it is 

 worn away, because just so much of the new shoe should 



