SHOEING. 81 



do their best, for what I can only call cruel or thought- 

 less masters, to say nothing of the liability of the 

 animals' breaking their knees and bringing their riders 

 or drivers to serious trouble, smashing harness and 

 vehicles, &c. 



I have always found servants most ingenious in 

 making objections to having their horses prepared for 

 frost, the grand secret being their anxiety to keep them 

 in the stable the whole time the frost lasts, that they 

 may be saved from the trouble of cleaning either them 

 or their caparison, carriages, &c. They will alarm you 

 with the stereotyped objections, "tearing the horses' 

 feet to pieces," " driving fresh nail-holes," "ripping off 

 shoes," " his feet won't bear a shoe after," &c. I never 

 knew an ordinary sound foot to be reduced to such a 

 condition, by simply changing shoes, that a good smith 

 could not fasten a shoe on. 



The only tangible objection to calkins to which atten- 

 tion need be drawn is, that during their use, unless the 

 horse is moved about in his stable with great caution 

 in cleaning or otherwise, he is apt to tread with them 

 on the coronet of the opposite foot, which is a very 

 serious affair, inflicting a nasty jagged wound on one of 

 the most sensitive vascular parts of the animal.* 



The Bar Shoe going all round the foot is intended to 

 protect weak or thrushy heels. 



* There is a useful and inexpensive contrivance for very tem- 

 porary roughing patented and sold by John Coppard & Co., 24 

 Meet Street, who, on being communicated with, will forward de 

 BCiiptive particulars. There is also a capital and more permanent 

 arrangement prepared and sold by Mr Morris of 21 Rathbone Place 

 Oxford Street, being an improvement on Mr White's plan of frost- 

 ing horses' shoes, by screwing three sharpened cogs into each-one 

 at each heel and one at the toe-the shoes when put on being pre- 

 pared to receive them. & 1 



P 



