SHOEING. 83 



It seems an unimportant matter, but if looked into will 

 be found to be far otherwise. 



Tips, or half-shoes, which cover little more than the 

 toe of a horse, leaving the heels to come in direct con- 

 tact with the ground, are particularly serviceable in 

 cases where the heels are disposed to contraction, and, 

 from my experience, can be used without injury in any 

 ordinary description of work while the frog is sound. 



The quarters of the feet being left by their use with- 

 out the usual confinement of the shoe, and being pressed 

 to expansion on every movement of the animal, natur- 

 ally become strong and extended. Tips should become 

 gradually thinner, finishing in a fine edge towards the 

 ends. I have seen ill-made tips calculated to lame any 

 horse, with the ends the thickness of an ordinary shoe 

 (though extending, which is the intention of tips, less 

 than half-way down the foot), as if the smith who made 

 them expected the heels to remain always suspended in 

 mid air. 



Slippers. — Regular sportsmen generally carry a spare 

 shoe while hunting; but if a shoe comes off one of the 

 fore feet in the field or on the road, and the rider is 

 not provided with a proper shoe, he should at once 

 dismount and lead his bearer to the nearest forge, 

 where an old shoe most approaching to the size of the 

 foot that can possibly be found should be selected from 

 the heap of cast ones that generally lies by in a forge, 

 and let it be tacked on with three or four nails only, so 

 as to serve the creature to get home, or until the proper 

 shoe can be made. 



If a shoe comes off the hind foot, and the distance 

 from home is not above three or four miles, the animal 

 can be led or occasionally ridden that far without in- 



