122 UNASKED ADVICE. 



creasing the labour of the tendons. The sole is not to be 

 allowed quite to touch the ground when this is hard and 

 level. It does not do so in the unshod colt's foot, which 

 is the model to go by. 



The opponents of M. Charlier's system are numerous 

 enough, but, strange to say, they almost all oppose it on 

 different grounds. Some say that it will never suit weak 

 feet ; others, that these shoes cannot stand road work ; 

 others again, that the horse wearing them must be lamed 

 if he treads on a stone ; and further, a strong party has 

 declared as its unanimous opinion that the shoe cannot 

 be worn by hunters, that it will come off in deep ground, 

 and it will not afford a sufficient foothold on grass 

 and slippery ground. Let us consider these objections 

 separately. 



That the shoe does not suit weak feet is a mistake, as 

 such feet improve perceptibly from its use, the weak 

 crust no longer having the whole of the weight to sustain ; 

 and of this effect I will presently give an instance. That 

 the shoes can stand road work is plain enough to anyone 

 who will take the trouble to consider, first, their thickness 

 as compared with shoes made expressly for the road ; 

 secondly, the fact that the frog shares the wear with the 

 iron, while in the common shoe the iron sustains it all. 

 Next, that a horse so shod must be lamed if he treads on 

 a stone. This sounds plausible, but reflection will show 

 that a horse shod a la Charlier is far less likely to have 

 his foot damaged by treading on a stone than a horse 

 who has his foot pared and shod with the common shoe. 

 The former has the insensible sole much thicker and 

 stronger, it being never pared. It is hardened, too, by 

 constant contact with the ground wherever this is rough 

 or uneven, whilst the frog increases in size and thickness, 



