656 



THE HORSE 



in all weathers, can afford no such luxiuy." The same excellent authority 

 tells us that Napoleon's retreat from Moscow depended for most of its hard- 

 ships and horrors upon the simple fact that his horses were not shod properly 

 for travelling on snow and ice. The horses could not keep their feet, and 

 were unable to drag the guns and wagons, which had to be abandoned. 

 During the Franco-German war Bourbaki's retreat became a confused rout 

 from a similar cause. 



The anatomy of the foot has been described at page 502 et seq., and 

 it is therefore unnecessary to return to it again. It will, however, be 

 desirable, in describing the proper mode of preparing the foot for the 



A Sound Forefoot prepakkd for the Shoe. 



A. The heel of the crust. 



C. The toe cut out to receive the rliji. 



C. C. The quarters of the crust. 



D. D. The bars as tliey should be left with 



the full frog between them. 



E. B. The angles between the heel i 



bars where corns ajipcar. 



F. F. The sole. 



G. G. The bulbous heels. 

 H. The cleft. 



shoe, to i"ecapitulate the several parts which the smith has to work upon. 

 These are delineated in Fig. 118, of the proper form and proportions. In 

 effecting this, the old shoe (excepting of course unshod colts) must first 

 be taken off, to do which the clenches must be raised with the tool 

 called the buffer, loosening any nails which may appear tight by driving 

 them back with the punch. Then taking hold of one web of the shoe, 

 raise it from its bed by lifting one side bodily and then the other, taking 

 care not to draw it off completely on one side, or the crust will be broken. 

 Next rasp the whole surface of the crust to a level, which will expose 

 any stubs remaining, and if there are any they must be taken out. All 

 this is a mere mechanical operation, requiring no thought ; but now comes 



