SWEATING SHOEING. 93 



The disadvantages are, that, wlien it becomes necessary to 

 sweat a horse, the number of blankets required is in an 

 increased ratio to what he has worn in the stable and 

 while walking, the system having adapted itself to this 

 artificial covering, like men who wear their winter habits 

 throughout the summer, professing no more inconvenience 

 than those who resort to linen and nankeen. 



How beautifully Nature works for the welfare of her 

 children, is exemplified in the care with which she changes 

 the horse's covering, to suit the changes of temperature. 

 The thin coat of summer is shed in the fall, to give place 

 to one that is more of a protection again st the inclement 

 air. With the advance of spring there is another change, 

 and when the hot summer days come, a third molting 

 takes place, and the thinnest of covers is all that is 

 granted. 



My remarks have been applicable only to the walk, as 

 a means of exercise, previous to commencing faster work. 

 When the pace is quickened, and the walks are necessarily 

 shortened in the morning, even in some cases done away 

 with, we will discuss while the horses are actually engaged, 

 and we can note the effect. The walk, then, has a still 

 more important duty to perform, viz : obviating the dan- 

 ger attending " cooling off." Having now arrived at the 

 smithy, we will proceed to the business in hand. If you 

 have studied the works of the various writers on shoeing, 

 you will perceive I follow an entirely different plan from 

 any they have recommended. I do not want you to take 

 my dictum as gospel, and will give you the reasons I have 

 for shoeing horses after my plan. It was formerly my 

 custom to have the shoes for the front feet made flat and 

 wide on the ground surface, with a small steel calk in at 

 the toe to prevent wear. The web of the shoe was tapered 

 from the toe to the heel, and the fuller or crease cut deeply, 

 so that the heads of the nails would be on a level with the 



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