42 THE PERFECT HOESE. 



THE FORE-FEET. 



I do not propose to anticipate at this point what I 

 shall have to say farther on in that division devoted to 

 the construction of the feet, and the manner in which 

 to shoe them. I will, therefore, now only speak of the 

 outward conformation of the hoof. The foot should 

 neither be large nor small, but of a neat appearance, 

 and medium size. I am no friend to the large, flat foot. 

 I regard this formation as a very undesirable one. It 

 suggests to me that the companion-bones of the skele- 

 ton of which it is a part are likewise soft and porous. 



It is not the large, flat-footed man that can walk the 

 farthest, or leap the highest; and the spryest and swift- 

 est-footed animals of the world have small, upright, 

 horny hoofs. The chamois, antelope, red deer, and wild 

 horse, all have this formation of the feet. The mule has 

 a hoof that many horsemen would call contracted ; and 

 yet who ever saw a mule lame in the foot ? My idea is, 

 that a medium-sized and neatly-proportioned foot is as 

 good a sign in the horse as in the man. A foot that is 

 either exceedingly large, or quite small, is, to my mind, 

 suggestive of disease in the internal structure of the 

 foot. The great hue and cry about "a wide, open 

 heel," is a humbug. The heels that never look that 

 way are those of a Morgan or French horse, both of 

 which are noted for foot-soundness. I do not remember 

 that I have ever seen an unsound foot under a Canadian 

 horse ; and yet the hoof of the Canadian horse is invari- 



