AND ON SHOEING. 317 



It is therefore as necessary for training grooms to be 

 quite as well acquainted with the paring or cleaning- 

 out of strong feet as weak ones. Men that are at all 

 conversant with horses, or that have paid any attention 

 to the shoeing of them, are fully aware, that if any 

 part of the shoe when nailed on, should come in con- 

 tact with the sole, lameness will eventually, if not im- 

 mediately, be produced. It therefore becomes neces- 

 sary to remove as much horn from the surface of a 

 strong sole as will give it the concavity requisite to 

 prevent the shoe from pressing on the sole, and pro- 

 ducing lameness. It should also be made suflficiently 

 concave to admit of a picker passing easily round 

 under the shoe, when on ; this can be done to strong 

 feet with safety as well as with advantage, and leaving 

 the sole at the same time of a sufficient substance, 

 which a good smith takes care to ascertain. After 

 having removed a certain portion of the sole, he ap- 

 plies pressure with his thumb, to discover the substance 

 of horn he has left there. If from the quantity that 

 has been removed, he finds the sole somewhat elastic, 

 he should desist from further weakening it. The horn 

 should be removed from the sole to a similar extent, 

 from between the bars and the crust, when the long 

 shoe is applied; but care must be taken that the 

 former forms a junction with the latter at the heels. 

 This will not only give increased strength to them, but 

 it will also present a wide and firm basis for the heels 

 of the shoes to rest upon. The bars are to be left pro- 

 minent, if for no other reason than to prevent the 



