270 THE PERFECT HORSE. 



the foot, fix on it a strong, broad-brimmed shoe, from 

 the very construction of which, together with the loss 

 of its natural defence, horses too frequently are ren- 

 dered totally useless. ... In preparing the foot for the 

 shoe, the frog, the sole, and the bars, or binders, are 

 pared so much, that the blood frequently appears. The 

 shoe, by its form, — being thick on the inside of the 

 rim, and thin upon the outside, — must, of consequence, 

 be made concave, or hollow, on that side which is 

 placed immediately next the foot, in order to prevent 

 its resting on the sole. The shoes are generally of an 

 immoderate weight and length ; and every means is 

 used to prevent the frog from resting upon the ground 

 by making the shoe-heels thick, broad, and strong, 

 or raising cramps, or calkins, on them. From this 

 form of the shoe, and from this method of treating 

 the hoof, the frog is raised to a considerable height 

 above the ground ; the heels are deprived of that sub- 

 stance which was provided by Nature to keep the crust 

 extended at a proper wideness; and the foot is fixed, 

 as it were, in a mould. ... If we attend further to the 

 convex surface of this shoe, and the convexity of the 

 pavement upon which horses walk, it will then be evi- 

 dent that it is impossible for them to keep their feet 

 from slipping, especially upon declivities of streets. It is 

 also a common practice, especially in this place, to turn 

 up the heels of the shoes into what is called cramps, or 

 calkins, by which means the weight of the horse is con- 

 fined to a very narrow surface, — the inner round edge 



