144 Management and Treatment of the Hoj'se. 



and the sole where broad web shoes are used, to 

 give what the smith calls ^' cover" to the sole, 

 which he has pared away, leaving only the sixth 

 of an inch of horn on the sole to protect it against 

 stones, so that the poor animal cannot step upon 

 a stone without seriously bruising the foot. 

 Animals also shod with the broad web shoe are 

 much more likely to get stones fast between the 

 frog and the shoe, and are by some men driven 

 long journeys with a stone in the shoe, because 

 they either do not see it or are too lazy to get 

 down and take it out. When narrow web shoes 

 are used, we are told by the smith that the horse 

 is sure to hurt its feet on the stones, as they have 

 no cover to the sole. In this instance they are 

 strictly true, for they, by a free use of the knife, 

 have taken away all the true cover with which 

 Nature had fortified the foot, seeing the nature 

 of the work the horse was destined to fulfil. If 

 the horse is shod with narrow web shoes, and the 

 smith forbidden to touch the sole or frog with the 

 knife, the horse will be much less liable to receive 

 injuries from treading upon stones, as the shoe 

 is less liable to pick them up, and nature has her- 

 self put a protection on the sole to prevent injury 

 of a far superior material to any of man's inven- 

 tion. It must be evident that this is a case which 

 can only be successfully treated by a veterinary 

 surgeon or a man well versed in the superstruc- 

 ture of the foot. In most instances it becomes 

 necessary to cut away the greater portion of the 

 horny sole of the foot, and thereafter to restore 

 the healthy state of the tender surfaces beneath. 



