THE (ARE OP HORSES. 317 



justment of shoes to feet, but when his work is done 

 it will contain no noticeable peculiarity. 



Some horses require to be shod with short shoes in 

 front. I once owned a horse that, if shod too long 

 in front, would catch a hind shoe in a fore one, and 

 actually throw himself to the ground. It is a common 

 fault of smiths to make the shoe too long, — so long, 

 in many cases, that it curves in at the heel and almost 

 touches the frog ; whereas it ought to go no farther 

 than is necessary to protect the wall of the foot from 

 contact with the ground. For the same reason, that 

 is, in order to let the heels and the frog have free 

 play, corks or calkins should not be used in the fore 

 shoes of saddle or of light harness horses, — except, of 

 course, when the roads are icy, — and it is a question 

 whether they are useful on the hind shoes. The ideal 

 shoe 1 is the lightest, simplest, smallest piece of metal 

 that can be contrived to protect the wall of the foot. 



And now we come to 



Blanketing. 



The horse requires these blankets : a linen or cot- 

 ton sheet for summer, to be kept on day and night 

 unless the weather is very hot ; a woollen sheet, to be 

 used in cool summer weather ; and a thick blanket, 

 to be used in cold weather over the linen or woollen 

 sheet, according to circumstances. A woollen blanket 

 of intermediate weight for fall and spring is a luxury, 

 but not quite a necessity. 



1 Regarded simply as a means to locomotion. When it is a 

 question of "balancing" a trotter by means of weight in his shoes, 

 another problem is introduced. See page 90. 



