314 ROAD, TRACE, AND STABLE. 



turned out in stony pastures, frequently become so 

 foot-sore that they can hardly step; and before shoes 

 were invented regiments of cavalry were sometimes 

 disabled from the same cause. Certainly, if shoes 

 were not necessary, such a clumsy device as that of 

 skins, like sandals, bound about the horse's foot, 

 which were once in use, would never have been em- 

 ployed. Historians tell us also that plates of metal, 

 fastened by strings, served the same purpose for hun- 

 dreds of years. Even the mustang's feet lack the 

 toughness of iron. " In the mountains," relates Colo- 

 nel T. A. Dodge, in a recent paper, "where the sharp, 

 flinty stones soon wear down the pony's unshod feet, 

 this Indian [the Apache] will shrink raw hide over 

 the hoofs, in lieu of shoes, and this resists extremely 

 well the attrition of the mountain paths." 



I have even seen it stated in books, that a horse 

 unshod can travel on smooth ice better than if he 

 were shod with corks. This, I say, has been stated 

 as an absolute fact, and elaborate reasons have been 

 given for it ; and yet I know from my own experience- 

 that a barefooted horse is perfectly helpless on smooth 

 ice. On rough ice indeed, or on snow-covered roads, he 

 will travel fairly well without shoes, stepping shorter, 

 of course, than if he were shod, but on smooth ice he 

 cannot take a step with safety. Unshod colts are fre- 

 quently lamed by slipping in icy barnyards or fields. 

 I remember once narrowly escaping a fall while riding 

 a barefooted horse. In the middle of the street, which 

 sloped a little to the sidewalk on each side, I had no 

 difficulty ; but the horse shied off, struck the smooth 

 ice, and we found ourselves skating down toward the 

 gutter, with a prospect of tumbling w r hen we reached 



