HORSE-SHOEING. 123 



have not forgotten how much the noble animal may suffer from 

 unskillful management of its feet, through the neglect or ignorance 

 of those who have the special care of these organs. 



At a very early period in the domestication of the Horse, and 

 particularly in western regions, it must have been soon discovered 

 that, at certain seasons, on particular soils, and especially when 

 called upon to perform any great amount of travelling and load- 

 carrying, the horn composing the hoof underwent an amount of 

 wear greater than nature could compensate for, and that the living 

 sensitive structures within, becoming exposed and irritated by contact 

 with the ground, gave rise to pain, lameness and inability to work. 



To guard against this serious result, the ingenuity of man must 

 have been severely tested in devising a suitable and durable pro- 

 tection for the ground-surface of the hoof, and among the many 

 contrivances proposed, the most notable, and by far the most 

 valuable, has been the device of nailing a plate of metal to the 

 outer margin or wall of the hoof. 



The antiquity of this invention is very great, and it is probable 

 that for many centuries the shoe was considered as nothing more 

 than a simple defender of the hoof from the damaging effects of 

 attrition, and occasionally as an aid in securing the animal's foothold 

 during progression on slippery ground. 



As time advanced, however, and the services of the horse became 

 increased a hundredfold by the application of this ingenious and 

 simple expedient, the sciences of anatomy and physiology began to 

 •embrace the Horse in their domain, and, crude as they were at first, 

 it is to be feared that, when they were extended to the investigation 

 of the structure and functions of the foot, the useful and com- 

 paratively harmless protection of early days was made subservient 

 to the most varied and fantastic theories ; and it must be admitted 

 that for many years horse-shoeing, so far from proving a boon to 

 horse-owners and a preserver of horses' feet, has been far from 



