330 THE HORSE AND HIS STRUCTURE. 



natural hoof a fair trial, it would be found equal to its 

 work, whether for saddle or draught. It answers in 

 Italy, where the roads are harder, steeper, and sharper, 

 and more slippery than ours, and why it should not 

 answer in England I cannot understand. 



Here, for example, is an extract of a letter lately 

 addressed by a resident in Naples to a friend in Bristol. 



" Eome and Naples are both paved with lava, which, 

 with the least frost becomes as slippery as our own roads 

 in a frost. Most of the valuable horses were unshod on 

 the hind feet, while some had no shoes on at all, and 

 their hoofs were in capital condition, though the lava 

 was as hard as granite." Only a few days before 

 writing these lines, I was conversing with a friend who 

 had lived for some time in Italy and gave a similai 

 account, adding that even when the fore-feet were shod, 

 the shoes were only small tips, or " half -moons," as they 

 were called. 



Considering the extreme cruelty with which the 

 Italian treats his horses, it does seem wonderful that we, 

 with our many societies for promoting the welfare of 

 animals, and who pride ourselves on our superiority in 

 this respect to other countries, have never given the 

 horse a fair chance of using the natural feet as God 

 made them. There must be many humane persons who 

 are wealthy enough to try the experiment, and run the 

 risk of failure ; and energetic enough to anticipate and 

 repulse those who will assuredly do all in their power to 

 hinder its success. 



