120 SHOEING. 



now, has impaled the toe of the foot. A return to perfect freedom, how- 

 ever, could alone cure the evils caused by un- 

 natural restraint. The wedge heel pointed the 

 toe toward the earth; injured the bars and the 

 sole ; often causing large portions of the coffin- 

 bone to exfoliate. Seeing the plan did not 

 answer, the next inventor lowered the heels and 

 raised the forward part, this thing being named 

 a "thin-heeled shoe." However, one extreme 



A THIN-HEELED SHOE. .ii,l i ill jl 



could not heal the wounds provoked by another ; 

 and the position of the hoof, which the pavement of the stalls enforces 

 while the horse is in the stable, the thin-heeled shoe perpetuated when- 

 ever the animal was taken abroad. Ceaseless discomfort can advantage 

 no form of existence. 



The last shoe, moreover, besides being thin at the heels, also dis- 

 played a mild desire to retain the feature of the wedge. This was done 

 without the inventor suspecting that, when he fixed the quarters of the 

 hoof at a high altitude, and invited the heels to slide down an inclined 

 plane, he was only laying a trap for loosening the clinches; since, the 

 quarters and the heels being continuous, one cannot move without the 

 other being displaced. 



All men having, theoretically, insisted on the necessity of permitted 

 freedom of motion to the quarters, in order to secure the health of the 

 foot, the next novelty was a proposition to confine those parts, by estab- 

 lishing a large clip at either side of the shoe. 

 The clips were forged ; but the thin heels were 

 also retained. The highest portion being at 

 the toe, of course the foot, obeying the laws of 

 gravity, had an inclination to drag toward the 

 lower level — thus the thin heels had a tendency 

 to draw the hoof away from the clips, one part 

 counteracting the other. Then, the clip shoe 

 A CUP SHOE. j^^g ^ pjgpg q|. g^ggj inserted at the toe ; but 



could an everlasting horse shoe be produced, it would bring but small 

 gain to the proprietor ; since the natural growth of the horn necessitates 

 that the metal should be removed, that new nails should be inserted, and 

 that the foot should be pared out every third week. However, the steel 

 toe and the thin heels were incompatible with each other ; since the thin 

 heels took the bearing from that part which the steel presupposes to be 

 ^lone liable to attrition. 



It would, however, be vain to review all the shoes which have come 

 before the pubUc. . A certain rim of iron has been pinched up, flattened 



