CHAPTER III. 



SHOEING — ITS ORIGIN, ITS USES, AND ITS VAB.IETIE8. 



Shoeing a horse is understood to signify fastening a piece of iron to 

 the horn which envelops tlie foot of the animal. Such an operation, at 

 first glance, appears to be so simple an affair as to admit of few remarks ; 

 but there is no subject associated with veterinary science on which more 

 research has been expended, about which more bitter discussion has been 

 indulged, or with regard to which proprietors and practitioners are more 

 at variance. Certainly no matter can possibly be more intimately con- 

 nected with the suflferings and the comforts of the equine race. 



EARLY ARABIAN SHOE. 



ARABUIf SHOE OF A MODERN DATE. 



The custom of fixing iron to the hoof of the quadruped would seem, 

 at the present moment, to be all but universal. This habit was probably 

 derived from the East. In portions of the Desert of Arabia a primitive 

 looking shoe is still employed, which, like most things in that region, 

 has possibly remained unaltered during the passage of centuries. Such 

 articles retain the impress of a by-gone era, being merely pieces of sheet- 

 iron stamped, not forged, according to a particular pattern. The reader 

 may be puzzled to form an accurate notion of such things; therefore 

 illustrations, representing present and ancient shoes, are appended. Both 

 partake of the same general characteristics, but, among a people so widely 

 scattered as "the children of the Desert," doubtless numerous variations, 

 as regards particulars, might be selected. 



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