HORSE-SHOEING. 



165 



taining weight and in keeping the whole foot healthy and 

 perfect in form. 



THE SHOE. 



The Ordinary Shoe.— The hoof having been prepared by the 

 farrier, according to his fancy, for the reception of the metal 

 plate which is to garnish it, here again we find that ignorance 

 prevails and is productive of inconvenience and injury. " Im- 

 proved principles" demand that a particular-shaped shoe be 

 applied ; no matter whether the animal be for saddle, harness, or 

 draught purposes, it must have a shoe that rests only on the margin 



Fig. 12. 



of the hoof— on the wall. Therefore, except a narrow border to 

 correspond with this margin, the upper or foot-face of the shoe is 

 beveled away, so as to leave a wide space between it and the 

 sole, and throw all the weight and strain on the outer parts of the 

 foot (Fig. 11) ; in addition to which disadvantage, this space is 

 admirably contrived to lodge stones, gravel, hardened mud or 

 snow, and in heavy ground it increases the suction immensely. 

 But, as will be easily understood from the manner in which the 

 under-surface of the foot has been treated, this beveling is 

 rendered an absolute necessity if the horse is to be preserved 

 from immediate lameness. The sole has been pared so thin that, 

 so far from its being able to withstand a tolerably large amount 



