ON THE ART OF SHOEING. 363 



him into the hands of a fkilful farrier, who may 

 always preferve them in that (late, by flriclly 

 following the rules of Ofmer and Clarke, fup- 

 pofing the hoofs to be naturally found ; if other- 

 wife, I have nothing better to propofe, than to 

 repeat my own favourite method of the bar- 

 fhoe. But of all things in the world, let no 

 man put faith in farriers, or their pretended 

 cures by (hoeing, in cafes like thefe. There is 

 only one farrier equal to the talk, which is 

 Nature ; and fhe always performs her opera- 

 tions fub jove, abroad. 



I think I cannot too much recommend the 

 practice, hinted at in the beginning of this 

 chapter, of hammering the external furface of 

 the fhoe fomewhat concave ; its great ufe in 

 fecuring a horfe's footing over convex (tones, 

 mud ftrike every one, and it is unattended by 

 any countervailing difadvantage. On a refer- 

 ence, I find it mentioned by Sollyfel, as well 

 as that ancient author whom I quoted. It mud 

 be of infinite ufe to town cart-horfes more par- 

 ticularly, but I think it a practice w T hich merits 

 univerfal adoption. 



Refpeciing the fingle calkin, or ufual turning 

 up of the hinder (hoe of the faddle horfe, I 

 mull acknowledge I fee nothing in it either 

 of prejudice or utility. If the horfe have the 

 ufe of his frogs upon the ground, he will want 

 nothing elfe to preferve him from flipping ; and 



if 



