1G2 HORSE-SHOEING. 



hoof ; and should a shoe happen to be lost, the animal can 

 journey a long distance -with but little injury to the organ. 



Another of the many advantages derived from allowing the 

 sole to remain in its natural condition, is that on a soft surface 

 the hoof will not sink so deeply as one whose sole has been 

 hollowed out by the farrier, neither is it so difficult to withdraw 

 from the heavy soil. 



Paring the Frog. — This part of the hoof is that which, in the 

 opinion of the grooms and coachmen, most require cutting, " to 

 prevent its coming on the ground and laming the horse ;" and 

 this reason, together with its softer texture, causes it to be made 

 the sport of the farrier's relentless knife. It is artistically and 

 thoroughly trimmed, the fine elastic horn being sliced away, 

 sometimes even to the quick, and in its sadly reduced form it 

 undergoes the same changes as have been observed in the pared 

 sole. No wonder, then, that it cannot bear touching the ground 

 any more than the sole. Strip the skin off the sole of a man's 

 foot and cause him to travel over stony or pebbly roads ! "Would 

 be walk comfortably and soundly ? 



The artistically shaped frog soon wastes, becomes diseased, 

 and at length appears as a ragged, foul-smelling shred of horn, 

 almost imperceptible between the narrow, deformed heels of the 

 pared foot. 



The function of the frog in the animal economy is one of 

 great moment, and has already been indicated. It is emi- 

 nently adapted for contact with the ground, and in this re- 

 sides its most important office. To remove it from the 

 ground and deprive it of its horn, is at once to destroy its 

 utility and its structure, and withdraw from the foot ®ne of 

 its most essential components. The longer the frog is left 

 untouched by the knife, and allowed to meet the ground, 

 the more developed it becomes ; its horn grows so dense and 

 resisting, yet without losing its special properties, that it 



