STABLE EEFOiniS. 217 



and very well lie looked and went, but lie was not sonnd 

 in liis wind, whatever Lis legs miglit be. Bnt tlie 

 majority of horses have finished their career at fifteen 

 years old. And after some experience of ''^ screws^'' I 

 have come to the conclusion — and, indeed, expressed this 

 opinion before — not only that more horses are lame in 

 their feet than are lame elsewhere, but that many lame~ 

 nesses of the leg originate in bad management of the 

 foot. Consequently, we ought to be ready to hail any 

 inventions or ideas which promise to amend the treat-- 

 ment of that essential part of the horse's frame. " No 

 foot, no horse,'' has been long a stable proverb ; but 

 how little the comfort of the foot has hitherto been con- 

 sulted ! The ideas on the subject have sprung from 

 wrong roots, so to say, altogether ; or rather let us say 

 they have been built on fanciful and insecure foundations. 

 ^' ISTo foot, no horse," is a sound notion enough ; jet in 

 practice hov/ few men pay much attention to the foot, if 

 it be not obviously diseased, so long as the legs are clean 

 and the action unimpaired. Of course a dealer, so long 

 as he sells a sound horse, cares not how long the animal 

 continues sound. Indeed, the sooner in reason that the 

 creature is worn out the better, as the customer will 

 require a fresh one. Owners of horses too often act as if 

 their intention was to wear out their property as soon as 

 possible. AVe should think but little of the common 

 sense of a man who, having bought an expensive watch, 

 knocked it about in every conceivably unfair waj^ ; but we 

 think nothing of such a course of action pursued toward 

 a horse — and why ? Because everyone does it, I suppose; 

 at least I can think of no better reason. Our sj^stem of 

 feeding and conditioning horses is good enough, but we 

 have hitherto mismanaged their feet grievously; and_^ 



