PEACTIGAL HORSESHOEING. 



IMPORTANCE OF THE ART. 



It requires but little observation and reflection, one 

 would think, in order to arrive at the conclusion that the 

 art of " Horseshoeing " is not only an important one, so 

 far as civilization and the ordinary every-day business of 

 life is concerned, but that the successful utilization of the 

 horse, together with its welfare and comfort, in a great 

 measure depend upon the correctness of the principles on 

 which its practice is based, and the mode in which these 

 principles are carried out by the artisan. 



For proof of this we have but to glance at the immense 

 traffic in our great towns and cities, in which the horse 

 figures so prominently, at the same time remembering 

 that, without a defence to its hoofs, this invaluable ani- 

 mal would be almost — if not quite — valueless, in conse- 

 quence of the hardness of our artificial roads, and the 

 great efforts demanded from him ; or, studying the anat- 

 omy and functions of the limbs and feet, to call to mind 

 how these are wonderfully calculated to serve most essen- 

 tial purposes in locomotion and weight-sustaining, and 

 how necessary it is, at the same time, that their natural 

 adaptability be as little as possible thwarted or annulled 

 by the interference of man in his endeavor to protect or 

 aid them. 



