ITALIAN HORSES. 181 



replaced. (I may here mention that horses in Eome 

 and Naples, where the pavement is made of lava, 

 which in wet weather is as slippery as ice, are 

 scarcely ever shod on the hind feet, while many are 

 not shod at all. In some parts, where the road is 

 very bad, there are notices requiring all riders of 

 shod horses to dismount.) But Dr. Brierley mentions 

 that the space between the frog and the sole in his 

 pony was so large that small stones became jammed in 

 the angle, so that he was obliged to have it filled up 

 with leather. Now, it is evident that the farrier's 

 knife must have been at work, and that the Charliers 

 were complete shoes and not tips, as they ought to 

 have been. Had the hoof been let alone, there could 

 have been no space to fill up, and had there been no 

 shoe, there could have been no angle for the lodg 

 ment of stones. 



It is but natural to ask why a horse which was 

 in full work, which had all its feet sound, and 

 which, in addition, possessed the much-coveted 

 ' action,' should have been shod at all. The reason 

 was, that the animal was intended for sale, and 

 that at the present day purchasers can hardly 

 be found for an unshod horse. They are so much 

 accustomed to the shoe, that if an unshod horse 

 were offered for sale, they would jump to the con- 

 clusion that there was something wrong about the 



