50 DOMESTIC AXESIALS. 



foot. He pares the crnst as level as he can, and then he brings the 

 shoe to a heat soineAvliat below a red heat, and applies it to the foot, 

 aiid detects any little elevations bv the deeper color of the burned 

 horn. This practice has been much inveig'hed against; bnt it is the 

 abuse, and not the use of the thing which is to be condemned. If the 

 shoe is not too hot, nor jield too long on the foot, an accuracy of ad- 

 justment is thus obtained, which the knife would be long in producing, 

 or would not produce at all. ]t^ however, the shoe is made to burn its 

 way to its seat, with little or no previous preparation of the foot, the 

 heat must be injurious both to the sensible and insensible parts of the 

 foot. 



The heels of the shoe should be examined as to their proper width. 

 Whatever is the custom of shoeing the horses of dealers, and the too 

 prevalent practice in the metropolis of giving the foot an open appear- 

 ance, although the postei-ior pait of it is thereby exposed to injury, 

 nothing is more certain than that, in the horse destined for road work, 

 the heels, and particularly the s^at of corn, can scarcely be too well 

 covered. Part of the shoe projecting externally can be of no possible 

 good, but will prove an occasional source of mischief, and especially in 

 a heavy country. A shoe, the web of which projects inward as far as it 

 can without touching the frog, affords protection to the angle between 

 the bars and the crust. 



Of the manner of attaching the. shoe to the foot the owner can 

 scarcely be a competent judge; he can only take care that the shoe 

 itself shall not be heavier than the work requires — that, for work a lit- 

 tle hard the shoe shall still be light, with a bit of steel welded into the 

 toe — that the nails shall be as small, and as few, and as far from the 

 heels as may be consistent with the security of the shoe ; and that, for 

 light work at least, the shoe shall not be driven on so closely and firm- 

 ly as is often done, nor the points of the nails be brought out so high 

 np as is generally practiced. 



Calkins.* — There are few cases in which the use of calkins (a turn- 

 ing np or elevation of the heel) can be admissible in the fore-fjet, ex- 

 cept in frosty weather, when it may in some degree prevent unpleasant 

 or dangerous slipping. If, however, calkins are used, they should be 

 placed on both sides. If the outer heel only is raised with the calkin, 

 as is too often the case, the weight cannot be thrown evenly on the foot, 

 and nndue straining and injury of some part of the foot or of the leg 

 must be the necessary consequence. 



Clips. — These are portions of the upper edge of the shoe, hammered 

 out, and turned up so as to embrace the lower part of the crust and which 

 is usually pared out a little, in order to receive the clip. They are very 

 useful, as more securely attaching the shoe to the foot, and relieving 

 the crust from that stress upon the nails which would otherwise be in- 

 jurious. A clip at the toe is almost necessary in every draught-horse, 

 and absolutely so in the horse of heavy draught, in order to prevent 

 the shoe from being loosened or torn off by the pressure which is 

 thrown upon the toe in the act of drawing. A clip on the outside of 



* Vulgarly "corks." 



