ILLUSTRATED GUIDE. 83 



air, and it will soon become dry and brittle, and make 

 the hoof difficult to nail to. This thin covering of the 

 hoof is like the shining covering of a man's finger-nail ; 

 and most people know from experience how dry and brittle 

 and easily broken a finger-nail becomes when by any 

 accident it loses that covering. 



SHOEING WITH LEATHER. 

 Many tender- footed horses travel best with a covering 

 over the sole, and leather is commonly used for the pur- 

 pose. You must fit the shoe to the foot with as much 

 care as if nothing were to be put under it ; when it is 

 " filed up " and ready to be put on, lay it with the foot 

 surface downward on the leather, and mark the form of the 

 shoe upon it with the end of a drawing knife ; then cut 

 the piece out and pat it in its place upon the shoe and fix 

 them both in a vise, which will hold them close together 

 while you carefully cut the edge of the covering till it 

 agrees with the edge of the shoe ; then turn them in the 

 vise together so as to bring the heels of the shoe upper- 

 most, and cut out a piece from heel to heel slightly curved 

 downward in the center, that nothing may be left project- 

 ing for the ground to lay hold of. The next thing to be 

 done is to smear the whole of the under surface of the 

 foot with common tar mixed with a little grease; but be 

 sure that you never use gas tar instead of pine tar, for it 

 dries up the horn and makes it as hard as flint, whereas 

 common tar keeps it moist and tough. Then you must 

 fill the hollow between the frog and the crust on both 

 sides with oakum or tow dipped in the tar, pressing it 

 well into the hollow, till the mass rises above the level of 

 the frog on each side, but never put any oakum or tow 

 upon the frog itself, excepting a piece in the cleft to pre- 



