158 HORSE-SHOEING. 



he chanced to put his foot on uneven ground or a sharp stone, 

 his agony may be so acute as to cause him to fall. 



The paring knife is skillfully used to remove all the surface 

 horn down to that which has been most recently formed, or is 

 in process of forming. So anxious is the groom or farrier that 

 this, to them, most important operation should be carried out, 

 that the soles are filled with cow dung, or some other filth, for 

 some time previously, in order that the horn may be softened 

 and rendered more amenable to mutilation. When this " stop- 

 ping" has not been done, and particularly in hot, dry weather, 

 the sole is often so hard that it cannot be touched by the knife, 

 in which case a red-hot iron is applied to the surface to soften 

 the horn, or hot ashes are used. Then the bars and soles are 

 sliced away until nothing is left but the thinnest pellicle of their 

 natural protection, through which not unfrequently the blood 

 may be oozing. This is nothing else than downright cruelty, and 

 should meet with the punishment it so well deserves. 



To remove the excessive growth of the wall is an absolute 

 necessity ; but to denude the sole of its horn is wanton injury 

 to the foot and cruelty to the animal. This is easily accounted 

 for. The sole only increases its substance to a certain thickness 

 — never too much — and then the excess is thrown off in flakes in 

 a natural manner. In this way the sensitive parts are amply 

 protected ; the sole can sustain a share of the weight — especially 

 around its margin in front, where it is strongest — and meet the 

 ground, however rough and stony this may be, with perfect 

 impunity. This is its function. 



It has been mentioned that the horn is secreted from the living 

 surface, and that myriads of beautiful vascular and sensitive tufts 

 dependent from this surface, enter the horn-fibres to a certain 

 depth, and play an important part in the formation of the sole. 



