Toe Weights and Side Wei^^lits. 



That inegular-gaited horses have been made to 

 go more evenly with their use, it would be foolish to 

 deny, for such is unquestionably true, but that injured 

 joints, tendons and muscles have been made to pay 

 the penalty of employing such agents, is equally true. 



The use of side weights rarely, if ever, are of any 

 benefit in changing the line of action of the foot to 

 which they are applied, unless some attention has 

 been given also to the foot to improve the articulation. 

 They are more apt to emphasize the faulty action and 

 carry the foot further in its wrongly directed course, 

 if the incorrect position of the foot is still allowed to 

 maintain, and will surely bring, in such cases, injury 

 to the motor power. If the feet are trued, balanced, 

 in proper porportion and in proper angle to the limbs 

 they support, the applying of weights to them of any 

 kind will not be found essential to establish a true, 

 rythmical action and the animal's gameness and 

 disposition to do his best in fighting out his races will 

 be manifest by the absence of such a handicap of 

 weight-forcing appliances. Immediate results, some- 

 times, when races are on, may be an excuse for the 

 use of weights, but as soon afterwards as the 

 art of farriery can be brought to bear to assist 

 nature in correcting the error of action, the horse 

 should be taken in hand and the feet so balanced as 

 to make the articulation correct, so that the animal's 

 instinct shall suggest to him that the smooth, even 

 gait is the most comfortable, and he therefore will 

 naturally adhere to It. 



Hopples or Hobbles. 



The author unhesitatingly asserts that the use of 

 the above named appliances can be dispensed with if 

 the instructions contained in this work are carefully 

 complied with, and with greatly increased comfort to 

 the animal as also increased speed and gameness to 

 fight out his races. He asserts this because he can 

 understandingly do so from the fact that he has trued 

 and balanced the feet of a great many that could not 

 go even and true without themwith the result of increas- 



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