69 



LESSON VI. 



TREATMENT OF THE HORSE AFTER HUNTING. 



The fox dead, the hounds led off, and on their way 

 to kennel, the first consideration must be for your 

 horse. Immediately examine his feet; if he has cast 

 a shoe, lead him to the nearest smithy : have the foot 

 trimmed or rasped, but not pared ; do not let the 

 knife touch the sole of the foot, even if it appears to 

 want it much. Have the shoe made to fit the foot 

 with exactness. Do not let the shoe be applied red-hot 

 to the foot to form its own bed. This process is a 

 prolific cause of lameness and ruin. Examine the 

 direction of the nails before they are clinched, and 

 have those extracted which appear to be driven too 

 near to the sensible foot. Do not allow the shoe to 

 be nailed on to the foot too tightly : probably the foot 

 has already become bruised by concussions consequent 

 upon the loss of the old shoe, therefore the tight 

 clinching of a new shoe when engaged upon a road 



