THE NUMBER OF NAILS. 235 



Having so fitted the shoe that the foot exactly touches 

 it in every part, the next point is to nail it fast to the hoof; 

 and on this subject we can do no better than to quote 

 Miles' very valuable remarks : 



The next circumstance to be considered is one of vital im- 

 portance to our subject, as upon it depends the amount of 

 disturbance that the natural functions of the foot are des- 

 tined to sustain from the shoe; viz., the number and situa- 

 tion of the nails which are to secure it to the foot. If they 

 be numerous, and placed back in the quarters and heels, 

 no form of shoe, be it ever so perfect, can save the foot 

 from contraction and navicular disease. If on the contrary 

 they be few, and placed in the outside quarter and toe, 

 leaving the inside quarter and heels quite free to expand, 

 no form of shoe is so bad that it can, from defective form 

 alone, produce contraction of the foot. 



Three years ago I commenced a series of experiments 

 upon shoeing, with a view, among other things, of ascer- 

 taining how few nails are absolutely necessary, under 

 ordinary circumstances, for retaining a shoe securely in its 

 place. The subjects of my experiments were six horses of 

 my own, and three belonging to friends ; the nine among 

 them representing very fairly the different classes of pleas- 

 ure horses, — not, indeed, including hunters or race-horses, 

 each of which requires a separate and totally different treat- 

 ment, but carriage-horses, ladies' horses, and roadsters; 

 and they also included the common variations in form and 

 texture, of the generality of horses' feet. 



When my attention was first directed to the subject of 

 nailing, I was employing seven nails in each fore, and 

 eight in each hind shoe. I then withdrew one nail from 

 each shoe, thus reducing the number to six in the fore and 

 seven in the hind shoes ; and finding at the end of a year 

 that_the shoes of all the horses had been as firmly retained 



