THE PRACTICAL HORSESHOER. 



253 



bruised her heel, and she was then shod with the ordinary 

 shoe, with a pad and spong"e between the shoe and foot. 



"When I purchased Kitty Patchen," continued Mr. Bed- 

 ford, "her feet were in a terrible condition. What with 

 the fever produced b^' contraction and the result of con- 

 stant soaking', her hoofs w^ere so brittle that the}^ could be 

 broken with the finger and thumb, and the mare suffered 

 with corns and stood Avith her feet forward in an unnatural 

 position. At first I had her shod with bar shoes, which 

 relieved the corns temporaril}^ by removing the pressure. 



Fig. 154— Sole of a Healthy Foot. 



As the hoof grew^ out the trouble returned, and I resolved 

 to try wiiat the use of tips w^ould do. I followed Mr. Simp- 

 son's instructions, and Kitt}' found instant relief ; the corns 

 disappeared, the hoof resumed its natural consistency, and 

 instead of a cripple I soon had a trotter free from lameness. 

 To-day the mare has as good feet as any horse in my sta- 

 ble, and I believe she can go faster than when she was on 

 the turf. Late last Fall, on election daj^ in fact, I drove 

 her half a mile to Avagon in 1:1 1|^ and a mile to a road cart 

 in 2:24^. With a lighter driver, but over regulation w^eight, 

 she trotted a mile to sulkev in 2:21|^, which is within half a 



