96 THE PRACTICAL HORSESHOER. 



until we observe how often a horse raises his feet in a given 

 time. Then by multiplying that by the weight of the shoe, 

 one can see what an enormous weight is raised by a horse 

 in a few hours' traveling and that, too, in a very disadvan- 

 tageous manner, it being raised as with a lever, with the 

 weight on the long end. — By J. C. Buck. 



The True Way to Shoe Horses. 



While 'there have been great improvements in almost 

 everything else during the past quarter of a century, I have 

 noticed little, if an}^, improvement in horseshoeing. 



I started to learn the blacksmith's trade in 1858, and have 

 never done anything else. I claim to be expert at all kinds 

 of carriage- work and horseshoeing. Some people say that 

 a carriage-ironer cannot know how to shoe a horse. I can 

 give you the names of hundreds of our best citizens wlio 

 will testify to my capacity as a horseshoei-, and after you 

 have read about my method you can judge for yourself. 



For the past eighteen years I have been constantly shoe- 

 ing horses, and have learned the ways of several States and 

 Canada, and I assert positively that there is only one way 

 to shoe a horse so that he will travel easy and at the same 

 time keep the hoof sound. Some may saj^ that all horses 

 cannot be shod in the same way, but I claim they can. 

 Allow me to describe the method I use, and I believe 3^ou 

 will agree with me in the statement just made. If the fol- 

 lowing instructions are careful 1}^ followed the result will be 

 satisfactory in every case. 



First, I take a good sixteen-inch rasp and rasp down the 

 foot level, watching that the heels are not cut down too 

 low. After the foot is trimmed to the proper shape, I use a 

 knife to smooth it, and never cut the braces of the foot, for 

 they are the strength of it ; and never use the knife on the 



