SPECIAL AND GENERAL SHOEING. 119 



nevertheless, enjoy a ride behind a good horse, will become more 

 and more impressed with the fact that it costs no more to keep 

 a good horse than a poor one, and that in horses, as in every- 

 thing else, the best is the cheapest. The demand for good 

 horses will therefore increase, and as the general horsekeeping 

 public become more and more learned in the knowledge of what 

 a good horse really is, they will take nothing else. 



In the evolution of the trotting horse the most vital and 

 imperative points commanding the attention of horsemen and 

 farriers have been the acquirement of constantly improved 

 methods and skill applying to the intelligent supervision of his 

 feet and legs, the most important parts of the animals structure, 

 upon the soundness of which its capacity for speed and power 

 of endurance greatly depend. I have already referred (in the 

 chapter on " Shoeing Young Horses ") to the many perplexities 

 to be encountered in the progress of shoeing trotting horses, 

 owing to the variety and velocity of movement, and because 

 each single front leg is required to alternate at certain successive 

 moments in bearing all of the weight and impetus of moving, 

 instead of sharing it with its counterpart, as in the act of stand- 

 ing or running, in all of which there is always an increase of the 

 difficulties of shoeing. 



The weight and style of shoe, are, therefore, to be regarded 

 with the utmost nicety of judgment, and such matters must be 

 thoroughly understood in adapting the shoe to its proper intent. 

 It is necessary for the shoe to be well adjusted to a close, strong 

 bearing upon the wall, and that it be sufficiently wide to sustain 

 the usage required without bending or twisting, nor yet to touch 

 or bear against the sole. The shoe should therefor be beveled off 

 inside of the w^all-bearing and fit the hoof to the best advantage 

 uniformly around all parts, with a firm seat toward the heels, 

 and in all other respects let it be made and fitted like the shoe 

 for the perfect foot, Figs. 27 and 28. By having the ends of 

 shoes beveled off on the same angle as the heels of the hoof, 



