330 ON PLATING RACE-HORSES. 



this is occasioned by anything wrong about either of 

 the horse's feet, there will be time to remove the plates, 

 and to give the nails less hold or a different direction. 

 The foot may afterwards be relaxed in a biicket of 

 water, so that the horse may be brought to post, and 

 run without much danger of being lamed, if the 

 ground be not too hard. 



Horses that may be heavily engaged, as some of 

 those which may be entered for either of the great 

 stakes, the Derby, or the Oaks, at Epsom, or that 

 valuable and interesting stake, the St. Leger, at Don- 

 caster, often stand high in public opinion. Under 

 these circumstances, to make all safe, and to satisfy the 

 public, it is usual, and indeed very proper, to bring 

 good shoeing and plating smiths to attend them, from the 

 different neighbourhoods where large training establish- 

 ments are kept. This arrangement cannot well extend 

 to country plate horses that are travelling during the 

 summer from one meeting to the other ; and from the 

 repeated necessity there is for removing the hoses and 

 plates of such horses, their feet are frequently in a 

 very broken and weak state on their return to the 

 home stables in autumn. 



The foregoing are remarks which were made by me 

 at a time when I knew but little more about the feet of 

 horses than picking them out and washing them. I 

 have seen some few instances of race-horses' feet being 

 in a bad state, since I have been a Veterinary Surgeon 

 in the Army, and that, too, early in the summer. I am 

 of opinion, from the observations I made in those 



