SHOEING. 



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131 



mmghani ; the former at a cost of five shillings — the last for one penny 

 or three half pence each. Tapping a set of shoes is by the smith charged 

 fourpence ; and for so small an outlay the gentleman just named escapes 

 the unpleasantness and the annoyance which are inseparable from the 

 old method of "roughing" horses during frosty weather. 



A FOOT PEOPEELT SHOD, AND A FOOT WHICH HAS BEEN CRUELLY RASPED, 10 MAKE THE HOOF SUIT A 

 SHOE THAT WAS TOO SMALL FOR IT. 



The author believes he has now touched upon all the necessary heads 

 connected with the subject he is at present considering ; still this article 

 cannot be closed without apprising the reader of a practice not unusual 

 in some forges, but never indulged in by the respectable tradesman. 

 This is, paring and rasping the horse's foot till it be small enough to fit 

 the shoe, rather than kindle a fire and forge a new set which shall suit 

 the feet of the animal. It may to some readers seem like a jest, to write 

 seriously about the horse's shoes being too tight; but it is, indeed, no 

 joke to the quadruped which has to move in such articles. The walk is 

 strange, as though the poor creature were trying to progress, but could 

 obtain no bearing for its tread. The legs are all abroad, and the hoofs 

 no sooner touch the ground than they are snatched up again. The head 

 is carried high, and the countenance denotes sufi'ering. It is months 

 before the horn is restored to its normal condition. The animal must, 

 during this period, remain idle in the stable ; and, that the reader may 

 be enabled to recognize the foot, under such circumstances, the last illus- 

 tration was introduced. 



It is trusted that whoever may possess an animal which is thus 

 treated, will, in the first instance, secure the evidence as to fact from 

 three or four of the principal veterinary surgeons ; then enforce, with its 

 utmost rigor, the law against the individual who has knowingly been 

 guilty of this most heartless attempt at a positive fraud. 



The horse is so entirely given into the hands of man, and is so sub- 



