96 



SHOEING. 



The preceding look like things produced during the childhood of 

 civilization ; but to assure the reader that at one period horse shoes 

 resembling the foregoing were almost universal, below is subjoined 

 sketches of those adopted, even at a recent date, by the Moorish, the 

 Persian, and the Portuguese nations. These people are widely distrib- 



A MOORISH, A PEESIAN, AND A PORTUGUESE SHOE. COPIED FROM GOODWIN'S SYSTEM OF SHOEING HOBSES. 



uted ; but they all are characterized by the tenacity with which each has 

 clung to the habits of its ancestors. The sh§ipe pervading the examples 

 brought forward is too eccentric, the generic likeness is too remarkable, 

 and the peculiarities of feature impressed on each is too conspicuous, 

 to permit of their united evidence being pushed on one side with any 

 commonplace reference to an accidental resemblance. 



Succeeding the former engravings is appended an authentic skefch of 

 the old English horse shoe which was in common use at the commencement 



of the last century. When compared 

 with the plate of the Arab, which doubt- 

 less was the original, it assuredly exhib- 

 its signs of intention. The calkin, in- 

 tended to prevent slipping, we here see, 

 as likewise in the foregoing examples, 

 is by no means a modern invention. 

 The position of the nail holes has been 

 materially altered: they have been 

 moved from the center, and have been 

 made to range around the outer margin 

 and to pierce the solid horn of the toe, 

 which previously was scrupulously 

 spared. The fastenings, likewise, have 

 increased in number, having grown from eight to fourteen. The central 

 opening has been enlarged; but the thickness of the iron and the gen- 

 eral figure, however, demonstrate the source whence the original was 

 derived. 



Thin plates of iron were once nailed as shoes to the hoofs throughout 



OLD ENGLISH SHOE. COPIED FROM CLARK'S 

 WORK ON SHOEING. 



