loo THE HORSE 



The use of the pad is also a defense against the 

 plcknig up of nails — an exceedingly common and 

 distressing accident. So many horses are painfully 

 injured and ultimately killed from this cause that, as a 

 matter of economy, it pays to protect the hind feet as 

 well as the fore feet with a leather or rubber pad. 

 A nail may, indeed, penetrate the leather pad, but it 

 will not go into the foot so far as it would without 

 the interposition of the leathern protection; and, more- 

 over, the mere passage of the nail through the leather 

 cannot help but clean it to a certain extent. This 

 cleansing process has a decided value of its own, for 

 blood poisoning is the worst feature of these accidents. 



Pads, however, should not be left on very long, for 

 gravel or dirt will gradually work in, and form hard, 

 irregular lumps under the pad, causing pain, and often 

 lameness. 



TIPS 



Tips are often useful to prevent or cure contracted 

 heels, and with horses that have good, strong feet, tips 

 for use on country roads are, in many cases, better than 

 shoes for a week or two at any rate. An incipient 

 case of founder^ can often be cured by shoeing the 

 horse with tips, for in this way frog-pressure is obtained 

 and the heels are expanded. The tip should be so 

 made that it gradually tapers to nothing, in the likeness 

 of a wedge. This is much the better way. But if the 

 ends are left square and of the same thickness as the 

 front part of the tip, they must be let into the bearing 



1 Not, of course, acute founder. 



