256 THE PERFECT HORSE. 



shoe two nails with long heads, which will prevent the 

 horse from slipping. Also during frost, on paved 

 roads, or ice or snow, use these nails, as they prevent 

 slipping : the roads being hard, three nails are required, 

 — two in the outer branch, and one in the inner.'' 



Eeverting to the defective shoeing of his time, 

 he endeavors to demonstrate, that, by removing the 

 horn of the frog, and points of the heels, from the 

 ground, the animal's footing on paved roads is much 

 less secure. 



"The draught-horse," he says, "first places his weight 

 on the toe, then on the two sides of the hoof; and 

 afterwards the heels are lowered to meet the heel 

 of the shoe. The saddle-horse rests more lightly on 

 the toe. The canon (or shank-bone) presses on the 

 pastern-bone, this on the coronary, and this again on 

 the coffin and navicular bones. From this disposition, 

 we should note two important points which throw light 

 on the defects of the present method, and indicate how 

 to remedy them : one is, that the strain of the weight 

 is neither fixed on the toe nor heel, but between the 

 two; the other, that the more the frog is removed 

 from the ground, or from any point of support, the 

 more the pressure of the coronary on the navicular 

 bone fatigues the tendon on which it rests, in conse- 

 quence of the excessive extension it experiences at 

 each step the horse takes. The frog ought, therefore, 

 to rest on the ground, as much for the facility as for 

 the surety of the horse's movements ; as the larger the 



