THE SHOES WOIiX BY COLTS OF 1011 TO 1!)14. 123 



dently the California trainers have come to this 

 decision for in 1914 Bon Courage, Esperanza, 

 Miss Perfection and Virginia Barnette had their 

 shoes made of half-round instead of flat steel. 

 The effect of such a shoe is that it sinks a trifle 

 m.ore into the earth than a flat shoe, giving the re- 

 quired hold, yet it has an easy break-over at the 

 toe, especially when the toe is squared a trifle. 



AA'hether or not to use pads in shoeing is a much 

 disputed question — about half of the colts in the 

 previous table wore leather or rubber pads. As 

 Peter Volo, the champion, wore rubber pads we 

 may expect a run on rubber pads for horsemen 

 are prone to use equipment similar to that used on 

 champions. 



Another tendency noted in reviewing the shoes 

 of the past four seasons is the commendable ten- 

 dency to shoe colts with short (\. e., natural 

 length) toes and natural angles. Horsemen are 

 about ready to concede that they cannot improve 

 on nature. 



The horse of the future will be shod as close to 

 nature as possible, with merely enough metal on 

 the hoofs to lessen concussion and prevent 

 breakage. 



