THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 83 



and oldest authorities, that the fore-shoes need not be 

 turned up, and that no corking is necessary, especially if 

 the shoe be made sufficiently concave, and have a deep 

 groove extending along the middle. This, upon the prin- 

 ciple of a fluted skate, will be found, in a great measure, to 

 prevent slipping ; if any one doubt the fact, upon the sup- 

 position that this groove must become filled with earth, 

 and, consequently, useless, let him try which will slip 

 farthest upon landing over a fence on greasy ground, — 

 a horse with or without these grooves in his fore-shoes. 

 Some do not consider it safe to omit the turning up or 

 corking, but the evils arising from this method would out- 

 weigh any that could result from slipping, admitting that 

 it affords firmer footing. I am not presuming to offer any 

 treatise upon this scientific branch of farriery : — but to 

 return to the "lost shoe," and the best means of guarding 

 against such an event, — I will briefly state my belief that 

 everything depends upon the hind-shoes — upon their 

 fabric and position. Where one shoe is pulled off by 

 the retentive power of the ground, twenty are torn off 

 by the over-reach of the hind-shoe. The wound called 

 an over-reach, so disastrous in its effects, is made not by 

 the outside, but by the inside edge of the hind-shoe, which 

 is commonly left sharp, and well adapted to gripe the 

 heel of the fore-shoe, or to inflict a cut in the flesh above 

 it ; all horses, from their natural action, in deep ground, 

 being more or less liable to over-reach in their gallop. 



