SHOEING AND CARE OF THE FEET. 41 



CHAPTER VIII. 



SHOEING AND CARE OF THE FEET. 



Team-houses which are not required to do much travelling 

 on hard roads should be shod every live or six Aveeks. Horses 

 and cobs that perform their work on the road require to be 

 shod at least once a month. It not infrequently happens that 

 horses doing; road work w^ear out their shoes at a very rapid 

 rnte, and that their shoes do not last out a month. In 

 sucli cases, it is, of course, necessary to send the liorse to the 

 forge as soon as the shoes are worn away. The horse-ow^ner 

 should always be careful to examine the state of the shoes of 

 liis horses from time to time, and he sliould also observe 

 whether a shoe has become loosened before taking or sending 

 horses for a long journey on the road. In order to ascertain 

 whether a shoe has become loosened, it should be tried 

 whether it will move about from side to side on the hoof, and 

 not — as is usually done — whetlier it moves up and down. 

 \Ylien a horses is travelling on a hard road, it is easy to know- 

 when a shoe is loose on account of the peculiar sound made 

 each time the foot is placed on the ground. 



The Horn of the Hoofs in vouno; horses o-rows at a 

 more rapid rate than is the case with horses six years old and 

 over, and, for this reason, the former require to be shod at 

 more frequent intervals tlian the latter, in order to avoid 

 the feet becoming over-grown and losing their good shape. 



The Shoes sliould not be made unnecessarily heavy, as 

 very heavy shoes fatigue the legs of horses in an undue 

 manner. The shoes should only be made sufficiently thick to 



