130 SCIENTIFIC HOKSESHOEING. 



cured in the act of springing, and no loss of power sustained in 

 the extension of the stride. The shoes also should be attached 

 well back of quarters and heels, as these are the stronger parts 

 of the wall ; but in all cases, both front and back shoes should 

 follow the exact maro-inal line of the wall from toe to heels, and 

 if any deficiency exists in the length or width of hoof, the shoe 

 is the thing to supply it with ; then if the foot is leveled and 

 angled aright, the shoe is to maintain the level by being of uni- 

 form thickness, and wherever the foot requires to be raised or 

 lowered let the shoe be thickened or thinned to suit the emer- 

 gencies of the case. 



Comments on the Gait of Speed Horses. — Some inter- 

 esting comparisons are suggested by the records of the phenom- 

 enal "time beaters " tabulated on page 118. 



Selecting, for an example, the recorded performance of 

 Nancy Hanks in 1892, when she trotted a mile on a regulation 

 track in the remarkably quick time of 2 minutes and 4 seconds, 

 a simple calculation will serve to indicate the rate of speed re- 

 quired for its execution. 



The line measure of our standard mile being 1,760 yards or 

 5,280 feet, it is seen that in dividing the distance traveled by 

 the time expended (reduced to seconds), we have 5,280 feet by 

 124 second8=42^ feet — or the rate per second traveled by 

 Nancy Hanks in the foregoing race. 



By another process the gait of horses or the length of their 

 stride will be similarly conveyed. Assuming the stride of the 

 horse to measure 16 feet, it will require 330 such strides to com- 

 plete the circuit of a mile. If the stride is a rod long (or 16^^ 

 feet), there will be 320 to the mile ; and if 17 feet in length, the 

 number of strides to the mile will be 310}^. 



