SHOEING 91 



On asphalt or brick, calks are, of course, useless. 

 On stone pavements where there are interstices or 

 cracks, in which the calks might take hold, horses go 

 better, it is usually thought, with calks, all around, 

 whether they are draft horses or driving horses; but 

 some high authorities believe that even on such pave- 

 ments horses of all kinds will do better without calks on 

 their fore shoes. No doubt it depends a good deal on 

 the individual horse. 



On all city streets the use of rubber pads, all around. 

 Is far better than any kind of calk. With such pads a 

 driving horse will do pretty well even on rough ice, 

 and, with the addition of a sharpened steel tip, he will 

 be secure on smooth ice. But a work-horse cannot pull 

 his load on icy streets without both toe and heel calks. 



In the hayfield, calks are necessary all around for 

 the turf is slippery; but they should be low calks. 



In many cases long side calks, in place of heel and 

 toe calks, are beneficial, for they furnish a larger bear- 

 ing surface than the ordinary calk. But one caution 

 should be observed here: the effect of a calk depends 

 largely on its isolation, which allows it to take advan- 

 tage of any depression or edge that it can settle into 

 or against. Now, if the bearing surface of the calk is 

 increased beyond a certain limit, the calk soon wears 

 down so that it does not change much the flat bearing 

 surface of the shoe. 



TOES AND HEELS 



It is a kind of fashion among many horse-owners to 

 allow the toes of their horses to become long, and the 



