THE PRACTICAL HORSESHOER. 23 



d-on't want the man who pares the foot to shorten the bear- 

 ing' at the heel by cutting- otf that extreme back corner, 

 which is done so dexterously hy a turn of the wrist, and 

 with such a mixture of profound satisfaction and malice 

 aforethoug"ht. 



If the weig-ht thrown upon the foot tends to expand and 

 produce action in the back part of the foot, varying- in 

 amount just as the weig'htbroug-ht to bear is g-reater or less, 

 or as the impact is more or less violent as between walking- 

 and var^^ing- rates of speed up to the best g-ait, is it not 

 plain that the best condition in which to place the foot is on 

 a plain level bearing-, and, further, is it not plain that this 

 mischievous space between hoof and shoe must become, as 

 the horse is driven, a receptacle for dirt and g-ravel, the bear- 

 ing- of Avhicli on the seat of corn cannot be otherwise than 

 injurious ? How would a man like it, I wonder, to wear a 

 pair of boots with two-thirds of the length of the boot from 

 the toes back strapped fii^mh^ to a bearing- fitting- the con- 

 tour of that part of the foot, while back of this part of the 

 foot was a depression in the msole of such magnitude that 

 the heel could onl^^ reach any bearing by the foot springing 

 out of its natural shape, the sole of the boot being made 

 rigid? But, to complete the parallel, let us take off the 

 counter from this boot, so that the dirt and gravel shall have 

 free access to the bearing on which the heel must come if it 

 bears at all. How would a man walk shod thus ? His feet 

 would soon be so sore that he wo\ild be afraid to put them 

 to the ground, and any inequalities in the surface which 

 caused tliis rigid sole to which his foot was strapped to be 

 elevated at the heel, or turned to on^ side, or, in fact, the 

 slightest deviation from a level plain t)earing of these boots 

 upon the ground, would cause additional pain. Shoe a horse 

 as I have described, and watch his gait, and say wliether 

 the parallel is not complete. One shoeing has changed 

 many a horse from an easy-gaited, sure-footed traveler to a 



