66 HOESES AND RIDING. 



out of a piece of paper the two slioes a and b and 

 will then fit them, first to foot a and then to foot b, 

 the difference will be at once apparent. 



The bottoms of road shoes are made flat, both in 

 the fore and hind shoes, and hunting shoes are 

 generally made with a flat sole in the front shoes 

 and a round sole in the hind shoes; but I should 

 prefer all four shoes to be made with the under 

 surface — that is, the surface which rests on the 

 ground — rounded. 



The heels of the fore shoes should not project 

 much beyond the heels of the feet, or there will be 

 danger of the horse's tearing them off by catching 

 his hind feet in them when galloping or trotting in 

 soft ground ; but the heels must project a little beyond 

 the feet, or as the foot grows they will soon be 

 pressing on the sole. 



The hind shoes should not in any case have 

 sharp edges about them anywhere, or there is 

 danger of the horse cutting his fore feet with them, 

 which is called overreaching. Hunting hind shoes 

 are generally made with one heel slightly turned 

 down and the other thickened to match it, and the 

 object of this is to prevent the horse slipping when 

 taking-off at a jump. It answers the purpose for 

 which it was intended, and is no injury to the horse 

 that I know of. It is called a caulking. There is 

 also a bit of the shoe turned up and let into the toe 

 of the horse's hoof. This is called a clip, and the 



