THE CHAELIER SHOE. 129 



never having been contemplated or provided against. 

 I cannot say how much hunting my nag did barefoot, 

 but sixteen miles of road he certainly did perform on his 

 way home, through an uninhabited country and in the 

 dark, and no forge discoverable. He was slightly foot- 

 sore, though hardly lame, the last two or three miles 

 certainly not more and his foot was a great deal worn 

 at the toe. A groove could not safely have been made, 

 and the Charlier shoe without one, to some extent, is no 

 better than another ; so, being far from home, with only 

 a village blacksmith who had never heard of Charlier to 

 apply to, I let him put on a light common hind shoe. In 

 doing this there was no sort of difficulty, and in ten 

 days the foot had grown enough to admit of the usual 

 " chaussure." And this was a flat-footed horse, but one 

 which had worn Charlier shoes for eighteen months. 



So much for that difficulty. And it is just as easy to 

 carry a spare Charlier shoe and nails out hunting as to 

 do the same thing with a common one, which any smith 

 can then adjust, no groove having to be made, and no 

 alteration of the shoe being required either, unless to 

 widen or narrow it a little to fit the foot. If it were a 

 full shoe it would be all right for the hind foot ; while 

 the reduction of a shoe to a tip, if such were needful, 

 demands but an infinitesimal portion of time, trouble, or 

 skill. Short shoes in front, however, ought never to 

 come off, nor will they do so when properly put on; 

 hind shoes have still less business to be absent without 

 leave. 



