336 ON PLATING RACE-HORSES. 



country plate horses, their feet having got out of order 

 from the repeated running and travelUng, together 

 with the necessity there is of frequently removing their 

 shoes and plates. The plate must not be made to ap- 

 proach nearer the end of the horse's heels than there is 

 horn sufficiently sound for it to rest upon ; and it 

 should also be sufficiently strong at those parts to give 

 the two last nails a firm hold, that the plate may not 

 spring at the heels when the horse is running. 



Some horses' feet will allow of a plate of this sort 

 coming within half an inch of the end of the heels ; and 

 others may not allow of its coming within an inch or 

 more. It is the soundness and substance of the horn 

 at the horse's heels and quarters which must regulate 

 the length of the plates. 



Country plate horses, if they are good ones and pro- 

 perly selected, are generally of pretty strong constitu- 

 tions ; and when they are sent on a circuit, or what is 

 commonly called, a roving commission, it is with a 

 view to pick up what plates they can ; and as the 

 season advances, unless great care is taken of them, 

 their feet, from the causes already mentioned, get into 

 a very indifferent state ; so much so, that it is often 

 difficult for even a good smith to put their plates on 

 with safety, and at the same time, securely. 



The hind plates may be made as the fore ones, and 

 may be brought well home to the heels, as the heels 

 of the hind feet are mostly in a good state. If a horse 

 is a long striding one, and a free runner, he is likely 

 to be rather a diffieult one at his turns ; and although 



