342 ON SHOEING. 



effect of moisture or dryness will soon render the attachment of the shoe less firm — 

 there ■will be too much play upon the nails — the nail-holes will enlarge, and the crust 

 will be broken away. 



After wounds or extensive bruises of the sole, or where the sole is thin and fiat 

 and tender, it is sometimes covered with a piece cf leather, fitted to the sole, and 

 nailed on w ith the shoe. This may be allowed as a temporary defence of the foot ; 

 but there is the same objection to its permanent use from the insecurity of fastening, 

 and the strain on the crust, and the frequent chipping of it. There are also these 

 additional inconveniences, that if the hollow between the sole and the leather is filled 

 with stopping and tow, it is exceedingly difficult to introduce them so evenly and ac- 

 curately as not to produce partial or injurious pressure. A few days' work will almost 

 invariably so derange the padding, as to cause unequal pressure. The long contact 

 of the sole with stopping of almost every kind will produce, not a healthy, elastic 

 horn, but that of a scaly, spongy nature — and if the hollow is not thus filled, gravel 

 and dirt will insinuate themselves, and eat into and injure the foot. 



The general habit of stopping the feet requires some consideration. It is a very 

 good or verj' bad practice, according to circumstances. When the sole is flat and 

 thin it should be omitted, except on the evening before shoeing, and then the appli- 

 cation of a little moisture may render the paring of the foot safer and more easy. 

 If it were oftener used it would soften the foot, and not only increase the tendency 

 to descent, but the occasional occurrence of lameness from pebbles or irregularities 

 of the road. 



Professor Stewart gives a valuable account of the proper application of stopping. 

 " Farm horses seldom require any stopping. Their feet receive sufficient moisture 

 in the fields, or, if they do not get much, they do not need much. Cart-horses used 

 in the town should be stopped once a week, or oftener during winter, and every se- 

 cond night in the hot weeks of summer. Groggy horses, and all those with high 

 heels, concave shoes, or hot and tender feet, or an exuberance of horn, require stop- 



!)ing almost every night. When neglected, especially in dry weather, the sole 

 )ecomes hard and rigid, and the horse goes lame, or becomes lame if he were not so 

 before."* 



One of two substances, or a mixture of both, is genera.iy used for stopping the feet 

 — clay and cow-dung. The clay used alone is too hard, and dries too rapidly. Many 

 horses have been lamed by it. If it is used in the stable, it should always be removed 

 before the horse goes to work. It may, perhaps, be applied to the feet of heavy 

 draught-horses, for it will work out before much mischief is done. 



Cow-dung is softer than the clay, and it has this good property, that it rarely or 

 never becomes too hard or dry. For ordinary work, a mixture of equal parts of clay 

 and cow-dung will be the best application ; either of them, however, must be applied 

 with a great deal of caution, where there is any disposition to thrush. Tow used 

 alone, or with a small quantity of tar, will often be serviceable. 



In the better kind of stables, a felt pad is frequently used. It was first introduced 

 by Veterinary Surgeon-General Cherry. It keeps the foot cool and moist, and is very 

 useful, when the sole has a tendency to become flat. For the concave sole, tow would 

 be preferable. 



The shoe is sometimes displaced when the horse is going at an ordinary pace, and 

 more frequently during hunting; and no person who is a sportsman needs to be told 

 in what a vexatious predicament every one feels himself who happens to lose a shoe 

 in the middle of a chase, or just as the hounds are getting clear away with their fox 

 over the open country. 



Mr. Percivall has invented a sandal which occupies a very small space in the pocket, 

 can be buckled on the foot in less than two minutes, and will serve as a perfect sub- 

 8titute for the lost one, on the road, or in the field ; or may be used for the race-horse 

 when travelling from one course to another; or may be truly serviceable in cases of 

 diseased feet that may roijuire at the same time exercise and daily dressing. The 

 following is a short sketch of the horse sandal. 



* Stewart's Stable (Economy, p. 127. 



