106 SCIENTIFIC HORSESHOEING. 



deal of what we make it, and if our horses from colthood up, 

 had their feet more carefully attended to, the period of their ac- 

 tive usefulness would be greatly extended, and in every way they 

 would be found better suited for the work required of them. I 

 am in a position to know some of the main causes that are re- 

 sponsible for imperfections of gait and action in horses, and one 

 of the foremost among them is the first shoes that are put upon a 

 youngster. To shoe a colt for the first time and shoe him scientifi- 

 cally, put a very light shoe on him, and every shoe the same 

 weight front and hind, then you have your horse balanced per- 

 fectly, as nature made him, and if pure gaited he can always be 

 shod so. Afterward if he betrays a lack of balance, faulty ac- 

 tion, or an uneven gait, a driver of keen observation can cer- 

 tainly discover the imperfections and apply the proper correct- 

 ives. To force a change in his way (^f going must be at the ex- 

 pense of the joints and tendons. For if the articulation is such 

 that the limb is forced to go in a wrong direction, any irregular 

 or increased weisrhting of the foot to force it to 2;o in a difterent 

 direction will undoubtedly result in serious trouble. A broken 

 gait and unbalanced movement comes from some evident cause. 

 Remove that cause and the ill effects quickly disappear, and the 

 animal becomes comfortable in his action, with the result of 

 an increased desire, as also increased capacity to speed faster, 

 and in such a smooth, rythmical w^ay that it becomes a real 

 pleasure to the noble animal. 



Modifications of Action. — In the course of my long ex- 

 perience as a shoer, I have necessarily had a great deal to do by 

 adaptation of shoes to the balancing and trueing of irregular 

 and mixed gaited horses, representing every type and condition 

 of foot soundness and soreness. I have thus come in contact 

 w^ith many horses where the cause of such disordered action 

 seemed obscure, or where the true seat of trouble had its origin 

 or location elsewhere, while apparently leaving its mark or mak- 



