114 SCIENTIFIC HORSESHOEING. 



CHAPTER YI. 

 SPECIAL AND GENERAL SHOEING. 



DEALING WITH DIFFERENT KINDS OF FEET. 



That there is a wide margin of difference in respect to the 

 conformation and proportions which characterize the feet of 

 different kinds of horses, or horses reserved for particular uses, 

 is too constant and well established a fact to require formal as- 

 sertion here, and that it is. the practical difficulties of adjusting 

 suitable shoes to meet these varied requirements that most of 

 the failures of farriers is due, can not for a moment be denied. 

 There is always a choice of modes and instrumentalities avail- 

 able to the farrier, a question of preference as to this or that 

 alternative in shoeing, and it often involves a considerable amount 

 of practical ingenuity and good judgment to decide on a proced- 

 ure that will insure good final results. 



This, indeed, constitutes the most difficult part of the art 

 of shoeing, for it is plainly evident that all feet, differing as they 

 do in conditions and uses, can not be alike operated upon, nor 

 can one kind of shoe be supposed to answer the purposes of all. 

 The safety, speed and endurance of a horse greatly depend 

 upon the adaptation of his shoeing to the nature ef the work he 

 has to perform, and at all times a careful application of it to the 

 state of his foot. 



In general terms this represents a comparison applicable to 

 the science of horseshoeing in its best state, that, in its degree, 

 it demands as much expertness, knowledge, and attention to 



