$66 ON THE ART OF SHOEING. 



I have given my opinion as to the depend- 

 ance which ought to be placed on the opera- 

 tions of farriery, for the recovery of thin, weak, 

 and damaged feet : I have not a whit more 

 refpecl for the various manoeuvres praclifed 

 with the intent of curing convex or pomiced 

 feet — of the different modes of {hoeing in ufe 

 to prevent interfering — or of the operation of 

 unfoling, and of various others which might be 

 named. As to any tampering with pomiced 

 feet, or thofe where the foles belly out, and the 

 horfe is obliged to walk upon them, it is at- 

 tended with conftant pain, without hope of 

 amendment, to the animal: the (horteft and 

 cheapen 1 way is to knock him on the head, 

 or fuffer him to take his chance abroad. I 

 have no reverence at all for the memory of the 

 inventors of the different kinds of fhoes, the 

 ufe of which, in different cafes, has been fo 

 offentatioufly let forth by writers ; they appear 

 to me ingenious contrivances, without ufe, and 

 generally full of cruelty. The ufual methods 

 of fhoeing, taken to prevent a horfe from cut- 

 ting, generally give him an uneven, and confe- 

 quently unfafe pofition upon the ground; and 

 after all, he continues to interfere. Drawing 

 the fole, I look upon to be an abominable, and 

 to the bell of my knowledge, ever an ufelefs 

 operation. I fpeak not on my own experience, 



for 



