THE horse's foot, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 275 



for city service. It is astonishing how fast the foot will 

 develop and increase when once brought m contact 

 with the ground. Take olT those high-heeled shoes 

 from your horse, friend, which you have caused to be 

 put on him in order to keep his frog from the ground, 

 and let it come in contact with the ground at every 

 step. For a few days, or even for a few weeks, your 

 horse may favor himself somewhat : but Nature will 

 soon accommodate herself to the new liberty granted 

 her; viz., the liberty of helping herself She will soon 

 build up a frog such as you never saw in your life, most 

 likely,* — a large, overlapping pad of gutta-percha-like 

 substance, wide and thick, that feels no more the con- 

 cussion, when brought in contact with the stone pave- 

 ment, than the buffer under a rail-car feels the jolts as 

 the train is being whirled along. 



Now, in respect to the full shoe, the first error in 

 common practice to be noticed is, that it is too wide and 

 thick. The lighter the shoe the better, should be the 

 rule. A horse is never so sprightly and pliant in 

 motion, so unlikely to stumble, or swift in movement, 

 as when enjoying the liberty of nature. There is no 

 sense or reason for the heavy, wide-webbed, long- 

 hccled shoes so common with us. These are the spe- 

 cific points of a good shoe, as I understand the matter : 

 The shoe should be narrow, perfectly flat on the upper 

 surface, — bevelled shoes are a nuisance, — light, thin at 

 the heels, its ground-surface concave, and just as large 

 as the foot. Such a shoe may be regarded as a model. 



