THE SHOE. 55 



injury inflicted by unnecessarily heavy shoes. Nature 

 formed the lower extremity of the limb with a view to 

 lightness, no less than to other important ends. The hoof- 

 bone is quite porous and open in texture, to diminish its 

 ponderosity, without detracting from its size or stability ; 

 while the hoof itself is, as we have just noticed, remark- 

 able for the manner in which its material is arranged with 

 a special intention to confer light-foot edness upon the an- 

 imal. The reason for this diminution in weight, while it 

 is coincident with increase in bulk, is to be found in the 

 fact that the muscles principally concerned in moving the 

 limb — swinging, straightening, and bending it backward 

 and forward — are all situated above the knee or hock. 

 The moving power is at one end of a comparatively long 

 lever with two arms, while the weight to be moved 

 is at the other extremity. The arm of the lever to 

 which the power is applied is very short, so that though 

 rapidity is gained, more power is lost, and it is palpable 

 that every additional ounce added to the foot must be near- 

 ly, if not more than equal to a pound at the shoulder. 



In shoeing, this important consideration has been 

 strangely overlooked ; and yet we cannot forget that it 

 has a great influence on the wear of, not only the shoe, 

 but also the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints, and 

 even, indirectly, of the entire animal. " If, at the termin- 

 ation of a day's work," says an eminent French veterinary 

 professor, " we calculate the weight represented by the 

 mass of iron in the heavy shoes a horse is condemned to 

 carry at each step, we shall arrive at a formidable array 

 of figures, and in this way be able to estimate the amount 

 of force uselessly expended by the animal in raising the 

 shoes that overload his feet. The calculation I have made 

 possesses an eloquence that dispenses with very long com- 

 mentaries. Suppose that the weight of a shoe is two 

 pounds, it is not excessive to admit that a horse trots at 



