THE HOKSE's foot, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 281 



tect the inner membrane and fibre from exposure to 

 water or atmosphere. This enamel is exactly what 

 Nature puts on to the surface of your finger-nail, reader. 

 Under no circumstances should it ever be touched. If 

 it is removed, Nature will be wickedly deprived of her 

 needed covering, and cruelly left exposed to the ele- 

 ments. 



In respect to applying the shoe to the foot, two meth- 

 ods are in vogue, — hot and cold fitting, as they are 

 called. Which is the better, I am free to say, I have not 

 decided. The weight of authority is nearly the same 

 in either scale. The advocates of cold fitting declare 

 that they can fit a shoe with rasp and file as evenly as 

 the necessities of the case require, and that this can 

 be done at no great cost of time or skill. They, more- 

 over, charge that both reason and analogy are in oppo- 

 sition to burning a horny surface, and declare that it 

 honeycombs the wall of the foot, and prevents its 

 natural and healthy growth. The disciples of hot fit- 

 ting, on the other hand, declare that few men can level 

 the foot, or so hammer and file the shoe that the fit shall 

 be what is required ; and that only by burning can the 

 connection between steel and horn be made sufficient- 

 ly close and solid. For myself, I do not deny the 

 advantages of hot fitting, especially when your horse 

 must be shod by rude and unskilful workmen : still my 

 impression is, that, where skill and time are attainable, 

 the cold-fitting method is by far the more preferable. 

 In order that the reader may have the hot method of 



