SHOEING. 539 



with the sole sufficiently to discharge the functions that 

 have been attributed to it. If it is lower, it will be bruised 

 and injured ; if it is higher, it can not come in contact with 

 the ground, and thus be enabled to do its duty. The rag- 

 ged parts must be removed, and especially those occasioned 

 by thrush, but the degree of paring must depend entirely on 

 the principle just stated. 



" It appears, then, that the office of the smith requires some 

 skill and judgment, in order to be properly discharged; and 

 the proprietor of horses will find it to his interest to occa- 

 sionally visit the forge, and complain of the careless, or idle, 

 or obstinate fellow, while he rewards, by some trifling gra- 

 tuity, the expert and diligent workman. He should like- 

 wise remember that a great deal more depends on the par- 

 ing out of the foot than on the construction of -the shoe ; 

 that few shoes, except they press upon the sole or are made 

 outrageously bad, will lame the horse ; but that he may be 

 very easily lamed from ignorant and improper paring out 

 of the foot. 



THE PUTTING ON THE SHOE. 



" The foot being thus prepared, the smith looks about for a 

 shoe. He should select one that as nearly fits the foot as 

 possible, or may be easily altered to the foot. He will some- 

 times, and especially if he is an idle, reckless fellow, care 

 very little about this, for he can easily alter the foot to the 

 shoe. The toe-knife is a very convenient instrument for 

 him, and plenty of horn can be struck off with it, or removed 

 by the rasp, in order to make the foot as small as the shoe ; 

 while he cares little, although by this destructive method the 

 crust is materially thinned where it should receive the nail, 

 and the danger of puncture and of pressure upon the sole is 

 increased; and a foot so artificially diminished in size will 

 soon grow over the shoe, to the hazard of considerable or 

 permanent lameness. 



" While the horse is traveling, dirt and gravel are apt to 

 insinuate themselves between the web of the foot and the 

 sole. If the shoe were flat, they would be permanently re- 



