CHAPTER XX 



THE HOUSE'S FEET SHOEING 



MUCH has been written on shoeing horses, but it is 

 seldom that any two authorities agree. The mechanic 

 who does the shoeing has his notions; usually, they are 

 nothing but notions, since he has no knowledge what 

 ever of the anatomy of the foot, and little or no expe 

 rience in the varied uses to which horses are put. The 

 veterinarian is called on only when the feet have 

 become abnormal or diseased. The owner of the horse, 

 be he farmer, tradesman or a horse fancier, often 

 knows even less as to when and how a horse should be 

 shod than the blacksmith. These unfortunate condi- 

 tions result in producing a multitude of opinions, 

 some founded on wide observation and hence of value, 

 a few on facts; but, in the main, the opinions are 

 simply notions founded on a single observation, or, at 

 best, but few. 



Under the circumstances, what can be said which 

 will assist the young farmer! We hesitate to write 

 anything about the shoeing of horses; but we feel 

 loath to leave the young men at the mercy of the 

 untrained, country blacksmith, or to the loud opinions 

 of some city mechanic who, because he has shod the 

 horses of the Honorable Mr. Smithkins, imagines that 

 he has nothing more to learn. 



(316) 



