AND ON SHOEING. 315 



it for him, after tlie horse is brushed over, his legs rub- 

 bed, and his bed set fair. 



This is the sort of treatment I recommend to the 

 notice of training grooms in the care of their horses' 

 feet, and which should be attended to immediately on 

 colts leaving their paddocks, or rather, as soon as they 

 are broke and have been brought into the training sta- 

 bles to go into regular work. I think there cannot be 

 too much attention paid to the feet of horses generally, 

 and particularly race- horses, as many thousands are 

 often depending on them; to say nothing of the ex- 

 pense of training and entrance mone}^, both of which 

 must be paid whether the horse ]un oi' not. 



The strictest attention should be paid by grooms as 

 well as by smiths, to the paring of horses' feet. Grooms 

 should also make themselves thoroughly acquainted 

 with this matter, so that they may be able to direct 

 any awkward country smith, whom they may occa- 

 sionally fall in with, how to shoe their horses when 

 travelling ; as there are many such smiths who are apt 

 to make rather too free with the knife, while others of 

 more experience are particularly careful. 



A good shoeing smith, who has been properly taught 

 and long practiced in the shoeing of different descrip- 

 tions of feet, has made but bad use of his time if he 

 cannot, on examining the horse's foot, immediately see 

 from what parts it is necessary to remove horn, and 

 what parts he should leave untouched by the knife. If 

 he is a good judge, he will not remove the smallest 

 portion of horn from a weak convex foot, or indeed, 



