OF SHOEING. 387 



confinement in a stable, will sometimes keep moving their 

 head, neck, and body to and fro, like the motion of a 

 weaver's shuttle : these have been called weavers. Such 

 horses seldom or never carry much flesh, from their fretful 

 temper and incessant movement. The only preventive is to 

 tie the head close up, except when feeding. 



TRIPPING. 



Innumerable attempts have been made to cure this dan- 

 gerous quality in a horse, but few indeed have been the 

 cures. It is only a waste of time to enumerate these. The 

 true remedy is to get quit of the horse. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



OF SHOEING. 



A FINE horse without sound feet may be compared to an 

 elegant building without a firm foundation — both are in 

 constant danger of falling. 



It is not known when the practice of shoeing horses with 

 iron was first practised, although it is certain that William 

 the Conqueror introduced it into Britain. 



We shall not dwell upon the methods which were prac- 

 tised to preserve the hoofs of horses before the invention of 

 iron shoes, but proceed to consider the best methods now 

 adopted. The construction of our roads and streets render 

 shoeing indispensable ; at the same time it must be obvious 

 that shoeing with iron, and nailing them to the hoofs, is 

 productive of very serious mischief, and is the cause of 



