PRACTICAL HORSESHOEING. 87 



at the toe means a pound at the withers." It is not surprising 

 to those conversant with the facts that the majority of our horses 

 are at the decadence of their powers when they should be at 

 their prime, and a prolific source of such disability is the habit- 

 ual necessity of pounding along on hard roads, with over- 

 weighted, iron-clad feet, ensuing from the conventional mode of 

 shoeing. 



Calculating that a horse going a fair trot lifts his feet all 

 round sixty times a minute, and this with shoes weighing two 

 pounds each, the reader will be able to realize how enormous the 

 amount is that can be unnecessarily raised to the wear and tear 

 of the living members. 



As an example, suppose a horse shod with shoes weighing 

 two pounds each and traveling at such a jog as requires him to 

 lift his feet all around once in a second or sixty times a minute, 

 keeps up his speed for five hours, how much work does he per- 

 form — that is, how much does he lift ? 



Lifting one foot sixty times a minute ; for four feet, 60 X 

 4 = 240. Lifting two pounds each time, in one minute he will 

 lift 480 pounds, which, multiplied by 60, will make in one hour 

 28,800 pounds, and in five hours, 144,000 pounds, or 72 tons. 

 This calculation is based upon the scientific experiments of 

 Mons. Bouley, of France. 



The injury of artificial or excessive weight carried at the 

 extremities of a horse's limbs is always increased as the rate of 

 speed increases. But even for our heaviest draft horses it is not 

 necessary to increase the concussion and battering, inseparable 

 from their bulk, by an aggravation of several pounds of metal 

 on each foot when an equal or greater advantage is to be found 

 in shoes weighing only half as much : and one may well be ex- 

 cused for wondering why horse owners do not deal with this 

 issue as one of self interest. 



