24 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



di-ew one nail from each shoe, thus reducing the 

 number to six in the fore, and seven in the hind 

 shoes ; and finding at the end of a year that tlie 

 shoes of all the horses had been as fii-mly retained 

 as tormerly, I withdrew another nail from each shoe, 

 leaving only five in the fore shoes and six in the 

 hind. I found, however, that six nails would not 

 retain the hind shoes of a carriage horse, witliout 

 allowing it sometimes to shift ; so I returned to 

 seven in the liind shoes, and have continued that 

 number ever since ; but five retained all the fort 

 shoes as firmly during the whole of the last year 

 ai.d a half, as six had previously done. 



I have invariably directed and suijerintended the 

 whole operation of shoeing during these experi- 

 ments ; and have always been very careful to mark 

 that the nails were not di'iven high up in the crust, 

 but brought out as soon as possible ; and that they 

 were very hghtly driven up before the cUnches 

 were turned down, and not, as is generally the case, 

 forced up with all the power that the smith can 

 bring to bear upon them with his hammer. I men- 

 tion these circumstances to show that my object 

 really was to ascertain how Uttle would retain a 

 shoe, and to what extent the foot might be relieved 

 from the evil of mmecessary restraint ; a matter 

 sometimes of great moment, and at all times desir- 

 able. 



The clinches should not be rasped away too fine, 

 but turned down broad and firm. The practice of 

 rasping the Avhole siu-face of the hoof after the 

 clinches have been turned down, should never be 

 permitted; it destroys the covering provided by na- 

 ture as a protection against the too rapid evapora- 

 tion of the moisture of the hoof, and causes the horn 

 to become dry and brittle. 



Two of the horses alluded to above, worked for 

 some time with only four nails in their fore shoes. 



I have detailed these exj)eriments Avith a view to 

 expose the groundless nature of the fear that ex- 

 pects to cast a shoe at ever step, unless it be held 

 to the foot by eight or nine nails, driven high into 

 the crust. If the presence of a nail in the crust 

 were a matter of no moment, and two or three more 

 than are necessary were merely useless, there would 

 be no great reason to interfere with this practice of 

 making "assurance doubly sure;" but it is far other- 

 wise, — the nails separate the fibres of the horn, and 

 they never by any chance become united again, but 

 continue fissured and unclosed, until by degrees they 

 grow down with the fest of the hoof, and are ulti- 

 mately, after repeated shoeings, removed by the 

 knife. 



If the clinches should happen to rise, they must 

 be replaced without delay ; as such rising imparts to 

 the nails a freedom of motion wliich is sure to en- 

 large the size of the holes, — and this mischief is of- 

 ten increased by the violent wrenching which the 

 shoe undergoes from side to side in the process of 

 removal by the smith. 



Now as these holes cannot possibly grow down, 

 and be removed under three shoeings, it will be 

 found that even with seven nails, the crust must al- 

 ways have twenty-one of these separations existing 

 , in it at the same time ; and as they are often from 

 a variety of causes extended into each other, they 

 necessarily keep it in a brittle, unhealthy state, and 

 materially interfere with the security of the future 

 nail-hold. Unluckily the common practice under 

 such circumsUmces is to increase the number of 

 nails, with the view of ensuring the security of the 



shoe, which increases the evil. My object is to show 

 that these shaky places, as they are called, may be 

 relieved liy the omission of one or two of the nails, 

 without endangering the security of the shoe. Sup- 

 pose the number employed to be seven, — to gain 

 such an end they may safely be reduced to five, 

 which is the largest number 1 have employed for 

 more than two years ; and until I discover some 

 good reason for increasing it, is the largest I intend 

 to emjjloy. But I am far from advising the gener- 

 al adoption of tliis number ; for if from imperfect 

 fitting of the shoe, misplacement of the nails, neg- 

 lect of removing in proper time, or from any other 

 cause, the horse should chance to cast a shoe, the 

 whole blame would be attributed to the five nails, 

 and the poor beast in all probabihty be doomed to 

 eight or nine for the remainder of his life. I do, 

 however, very strongly advise the adoption of six, 

 knowing them to be fully sufficient for retaining 

 the shoes of all pleasure horses under all circum- 

 stances, except perhaps hunters. Since the fore- 

 going was pubHshed, Colonel Luttrell, master of 

 the Somersetshire fox-hounds, has informed me 

 that the horse which he rode most frequently last 

 season was shod with six nails only, — not one of 

 which, in consequence of his cutting a good deal, 

 was placed in the inner quarter, — and that he ex- 

 perienced no inconvenience whatever from the plan, 

 if I had entertained the smallest doubt about their 

 efficacy, it would have been entii-ely removed on 

 the arrival of the Thirteenth Light Dragoons last 

 year in Exeter ; for among the horses of that regi- 

 ment, I found, through the kindness of Lieut. Col. 

 Brunton, who allowed me to inspect the shoeing, 

 strong confirmation of the truth of the position. 

 Hei e were horses with a variety of feet shod with six 

 nails only, and these all placed in the outside limb 

 and toe of the shoe, all the remainder of the shoe 

 remaining free and iniattached to the foot. Mr. 

 Legrew, the very intelligent veterinary surgeon of 

 the regiment, informed me that he had not em- 

 ployed more than six nails for nearly two years, 

 and that the loss of a shoe was a very rare occur- 

 rence with them, even on a field day, than which 

 there is scarcely any work more trying to the secu- 

 rity of horses' shoes. Any mode of fastening that 

 has proved itself equal to retaining the shoes 

 through a long field-day, in stiff ground, may very 

 safely l)e recommended as fully sufficient for all or- 

 dinary purposes. 



The question of the efficacy of six nails for road 

 work is settled, I should think, to the satisfaction of 

 the most skeptical, by the fact of the Thirteenth 

 having done the Queen's escort duty during their 

 year at Hounslow without the loss of a single shoe. 

 Any one acquainted with the rapid pace at which 

 her Majesty invariably travels on the road, mil 

 readily admit the sufficiency of the test. — Miles on 

 tfie Horse's Foot. 



OC?^As an evidence of the sport to be had in Tex- 

 as, we give the following, from the Austin Gazette : 



"We frequently hear of fine sport in bear hunt- 

 ing in our upper valley. Some panthers, too, and 

 leopards are occasionally killed. But the last spe- 

 cimen is related by the Liberty Gazette. The ed- 

 itor says in the last number that Ben. M. Green, of 

 that county, killed in twelve consecutive mornmgs 

 before dinner, thirteen bears, one panther, one wild- 

 cat, and seven deer. No wonder that a Texan can 

 whip his weight m wildcats." 



