222 UNASKED ADVICE. 



much tlie same article, though he works on the road 

 exclusively ; his shoe must, above all, not be uncom- 

 fortable to him. The harness horse also works entirely 

 on the hard, and not only that, but often on a very 

 slippery surface. His shoes must enable him to take a 

 good hold of the ground above all things, or he will be 

 liable to slip up ; and how to make such a shoe as will 

 effect this, and at the same time keep the foot in anything 

 approaching a natural condition, is a problem not easy of 

 solution. At present we have several styles of shoeing 

 to choose from, all of which are supposed, or said by their 

 inventors, to be infallible. The principal ones are, first, 

 the steel-faced and grooved shoes of (I think) Mr. Gray, 

 of Sheffield. These are very well on sound feet, and they 

 give a secure foothold on slippery stones ; also they wear a 

 long time, and look neat, if that be a consideration ; but, 

 as far as being the cause of disease, they are open to the 

 same objections as the common shoe, though it is not a 

 certainty that either or any other shoe should cause disease. 

 It has been truly remarked that horses lightly worked 

 and not highly fed may be shod almost anyhow, and their 

 feet will remain sound ; but this fact does not help us 

 much, as the great majority of us want to work our 

 horses hard, and consequently must keep them high 

 high keep being, as most people do not require to be 

 told, the greatest of all provocatives to inflammatory 

 attacks of every kind, and notably of the feet. So Mr. 

 Gray's shoes have no great advantage over the common 

 ones, excepting for use on slippery stones, and that they 

 are thinner, and so may allow of some frog pressure. 

 Next come Messrs. Downie and Harris's rubber pads. 

 These have been fully described in the Field newspaper ; 

 but, as everyone may not have read the article referring to 



