226 



THE PRACTICAL HORSESHOER. 



which were shod with gokl. I don't know if the Lord Mayor 

 of London puts on that much style, but it is a matter which 

 history has considered of sufficient importance to mention 

 that Nero had his mules shod with silver, while those of Jiis 

 wife were shod with g'old. A horse's hoof can be polished 

 until it is as smooth and as glossy as a tortoise-shell comb, 

 and it is certainly perfect taste to have them so. But that 

 polished hoof ^\ ill be set off to great advantage, and atten- 

 tion will be called to it if there is but the faintest bright 

 glimmer of gold on a thin line around its base. There is no 



Fig. 130— Showing Some Tasteful Designs for Artistic Horseshoeing. 



necessity of this brightness being of gold, brass will answer 

 as well. A steel shoe can be made with a channel for the 

 insertion of brass, and, arranged to show the bright brass 

 bottom when the horse is in motion and the band of yeljow 

 metal at the base of the hoof when the horse is standing 

 still. 



The engraving, Fig. 130, conveys some idea of the fanci- 

 ful effects which may be produced. Fashion makes business. 

 Fashion is the most beneficent of all the goddesses, and if 

 she refuses her favors to the blacksmith then he should take 

 them. Business will be good when the product of the black- 

 smith is subject to the caprice of fashion. 



Even putting a brass plate across the hoof, the full size 

 and 1-16 inch thick under the shoe, turning up a flange or 



