THE horse's foot, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 289 



weight of horse-shoes is not an accessory consideration 

 so far as the useful application of the horse's strength 

 goes." 



In the light of this ingenious calculation, what an 

 enormous outlay of muscular strength it must take in 

 the aggregate, on the part of the American trotting- 

 horse, to lift, with the rapidity required, the monstrous 

 shoes which are ruthlessly nailed to his hoof! 



In respect to the preservation of the horse's hoof, 

 I would say that it is almost impossible to keep the 

 foot of the horse thoroughly sound while we keep 

 him standing continuously on wooden floors. No one 

 could persuade me to allow a valuable colt to be 

 stabled in a stall the floor of which is wood. It may 

 not be amiss to state, at this point, the fashion, or style, 

 of stall-floors in my stables. 



The dirt is first excavated to the depth of two feet. 

 Stones are then put in haphazard until half the pit is 

 filled. Six inches in depth of cobble-stones are then 

 added; then four inches of earth thrown in. Over 

 all this is spread beach-sand or bank-gravel to the 

 depth of three or four inches. This is my model stall- 

 floor. Its advantages are many. It is cheap. It 

 requires no skilled labor to make it. Once made, it is 

 always made. There are no timbers to decay, nor 

 planks to rot out. It is never damp. The liquids 

 leach easily through it. Standing in such a stall, your 

 horses will never have dried, contracted feet; but 

 they will be strictly in the state of nature. In case 



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