228 SCIENTIFIC HORSESHOEING. 



In the development of that '• paragon of horseflesh " — the 

 trotter — the matter of shoeing for specific purposes has received 

 more attention at the hands of all classes of men, and has made 

 more progress and achieved greater triumphs in American than 

 in any other land. 



This is a department of the farrier's art that ranks with 

 the best and most ingenious of other mechanical arts, and is 

 justly entitled to the highest praise that can be bestowed 

 upon it. 



I have devised many different styles of shoes admirably ef- 

 fective for leveling and perfecting the action and the gait of 

 horses, as well as for removing the cause and thereby healing 

 the effect of various foot ailments, but as many of them are 

 iipplicable — in a large measure — to horses used solely for speed 

 purposes, any attempt at a complete classification at this time is 

 precluded by the limits assigned for this work. I will, therefore, 

 confine myself to a selection of such patterns as may be re- 

 garded the most useful for the purpose in view, though the next 

 succeeding chapter will contain an assembly of one hundred 

 and seventy other forms of shoes, all enumerated and described 

 for convenient reference. 



When rightly made and applied as directed, any of these 

 shoes will prove potent auxiliaries in assisting to relieve the 

 faults or troubles for which they are especially designed or in- 

 tended, as explained in each instance — and this applies to the 

 bigher breeds of horses, as well as to others whose lot is cast in 

 the humbler, if more useful walks of life. 



Any correspondence or inquiries addressed to me relative 

 to the matters in question, will receive prompt and careful at- 

 tention at my hands. 



