62 CURINE— The Great 



THE SHOE. 



Th^' «hoe should be as light as tne weight of the 

 animal and the nature of the work he is expected to 

 peirform will admit of. 



The mission of the shoe is to prevent undue wear 

 of the walls, and a light shoe will do this as well 

 as a heavy one. Make the shoe to fit the foot in- 

 stead of the foot to fit the shoe. Level the foot 

 perfectly and use the knife very sparingly and do 

 not cut away any of the frog as nature will take 

 care of that. Use small nails and not too many; 

 do not drive too high up into the walls. If a per- 

 fectly level bearing has been obtained— as ought to 

 be the case — it is astonishing how fev/ and how 

 small nails will hold the shoe firmly in its place. 

 When the shoe has been fitted, the nails drawn up 

 and- clinched, there should be nothing left to be> 

 done. It is just at this stage that the incompetent 

 workman, in the most uncalled for manner, in- 

 flicts serious and lasting injuries on the foot by 

 rasping away the thin coating of natural varnish 

 on the outer portion of the foot which is put there 

 by nature to protect the moisture necessary for 

 the protection of the horn and foot. 



Shoes should be removed, refitted and redriven 

 every four to six weeks. 



In this short article on shoeing we are not writing 

 for. the trotting horseman who knows his own busi- 

 ness better than we can teach him, and thanks 

 be to him for the amount of attention that he has 

 given to proper shoeing which tends to the more 

 perfect development of that paragon of horse-flesh, 

 the American trotter, who has macle better progress 

 in America than in any other country on the face 

 of the globe. 



The different styles of shoes which have been de- 

 vised are marvels of ingenuity, and many of them 

 are admirably effective as remedial agents for 

 faulty gaits and uneven action. Their number is 

 infinite, but as many of them are applicable only 

 to horses used solely for speed purposes, an at- 

 tempt to give a description would be out of place 

 in a work of this kind. 



