150 Management and Treatment of the Horse. 



Most smiths and farmers like putting on heavy 

 wide-web shoes — the farmer, from the belief that 

 the heavy shoe has most wear ; and the smith, 

 who generally contracts for farm horses by the 

 year, thinks that the more iron he puts on the 

 horse, the less times he will have to shoe him 

 during the year. This is a system void of 

 economy, both to the shoeing-smith and farmer, 

 as proof is not wanting that the narrow- web light 

 shoe will wear longer and the horse will go easier 

 than with broad heavy shoes. Mr. Douglas some 

 years ago tried the experiment of shoeing the 

 heavy van horses of one of the London railway 

 companies with light narrow shoes. He took off 

 one horse a set of shoes that after they were Avorn 

 out weighed 71b. 14oz., and put a set of new 

 narrow-web shoes on the same horse which only 

 weighed 71b. 4oz., or lOoz. less than the old worn- 

 out shoes. The horse was put to the same work, 

 with a result that the new narrow-web shoes wore 

 four weeks and two days, and the broad heavy 

 shoes only wore three weeks and four days. Mr. 

 Douglas did not know what was the weight of 

 the old shoes when put upon the horse, but it is 

 only reasonable to think they would weigh 161b. 

 the set, as they would no doubt be half worn 

 away before they were termed worn out. Nor 

 was this all ; the horse did not slip half as much 

 with the narrow shoe, and it entirely altered the 

 horse's action. With the heavy shoes he drove 

 his feet along the road ; with the light ones, he 

 lifted his feet free from the ground, and put them 

 down evenly and firmly. The author has had 



