THE horse's foot, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 277 



and bevels off the remainder of the shoe to prevent 

 contact with the sole. Many years' experience of this 

 plane foot-surfaced shoe in various regions of the globe, 

 and on feet of every kind and quality, have proved the 

 soundness of this view. The foot is brought as near to 

 a state of nature, when the greater part of its plantar 

 surface supports the weight of the body, as man can 

 hope to achieve while submitting the horse to an arti- 

 ficial existence. 



" A light, thin shoe is always preferable to a heavy, 

 thick one ; as the narrowness of the metal insures a 

 good foothold, — in this respect imitating the wall, — 

 while its thinness brings the sole, frog, and bars in 

 closer approximation to the ground." 



The upper surface of a shoe should be filed until it is 

 perfectly level and smooth. This, so far as I am able, I 

 invariably do for myself. A boot, the surface of which 

 is not smooth, gives to the foot wearing it very much 

 such a sensation as a coarsely-hammered-out shoe does 

 to the foot of a horse Avhen attached to it. It should 

 never be nailed on to the hoof until it is smooth as 

 glass. Such a shoe makes, in very truth, a good fit. 

 The ground-surface should be bevelled off along the 

 inner edge, thus imitating the convex surface-shape 

 of the sole. The metal at the toe should be rounded 

 off until the new shoe resembles at the toe the one 

 taken off. This is doing to the shoes of horses what 

 the manufacturer does to our shoes when he rounds 

 them up at the toe. This facilitates the action of the 



