is called upon to remedy, and he grows gray 

 and irritable while he is doing it. 



CHAPTER II. 

 The First Set of Shoes. 



The first set of shoes the trotting colt wears 

 should be absolutely plain in front with the 

 edoes and heels well beveled off. The hind 

 shoes can be smooth, plain shoes also — no 

 calks of any kind — but if a colt has a strong, 

 resolute way of going and goes wide behind, 

 a very light swedge shoe can be used to good 

 advantage, as the slight hold he wnll get with 

 it will have a tendency to pull him together 

 — give him confidence — and also, he will not 

 tire so quickly, for it is in the hind legs — the 

 propelling power — where the horse tires first. 



The weight of shoes is left entirely to your 

 own judgment; if he goes high and round in 

 front and just ''pats" the ground, shoe him 

 light, and after squaring the toe of the shoe 

 slightly, bevel it ofif a little so as to reduce the 

 friction or resistance on the point wdiere the 

 break-over comes, to a minimum. By ''light" 

 I mean a shoe weighing from four to six 

 ounces ; and in preparing the foot do not dress 

 it too close ; leave him wall sufficient to take 

 ofif the sting of the blow when the foot hits 

 the ground. It is much better to do this than 

 to cut the foot close and then use a leather or 

 fibre pad to make up the deficiency in natural 

 horn. 



The angle of a normal foot in front is about 

 48 degrees by a standard foot adjuster, but 



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