THE horse's foot, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 233 



on the part of those treating of it, have thrown around 

 it. The foot of the horse, unlike the human foot, is 

 very simple in its construction. The human foot is 

 complex, filled with a multitude of bones tied together 

 by manifold attachments, threaded in all directions with 

 blood-vessels, and braced and held together by bunches 

 and layers of muscle and cartilage, which, in conjunction 

 with the other parts, make it simply bewildering to any 

 eye save the trained organ of the surgeon or the anato- 

 mist. But, with the horse's foot, the case is precisely 

 the reverse. It has but few bones; its venous system is 

 not elaborate ; its parts few ; and its construction exceed- 

 ingly simple, and so perfect, that the use of each is 

 plainly advertised. Nature's design, in the wall, sole, 

 bars, and frog, is not left to conjecture : it is clearly re- 

 vealed. Nor is it difficult to ascertain the location of the 

 bones of the foot, or any other essential part of the organ. 

 Nor is it necessary for one to enter into an elaborate 

 scientific description of the internal structure of the foot : 

 such description is not called for in a work designed 

 for suggestion and popular instruction, rather than for 

 professional service. Touching the value of the foot, 

 nothing need be said ; since it is universally acknowl- 

 edged to be superlative. A horse without sound feet 

 is no horse at all ; that is, the uses and services 

 for which Nature designed him he can never per- 

 form. The preservation of the foot in its natural state, 

 which generally is the perfect state, is of prime neces- 

 sity. The main divisions of the foot are these : 1. The 



