HORSE-SHOEING. 133 



nearer the heel on the outside. In the hind-foot, they may be 

 driven around the toe, and even up to the heels with impunity. 



The form of the nail-holes is a matter of secondary importan le. 

 The "fullering," or groove around the border of the English 

 shoe, though artistic-looking, is a mistake ; it is a waste of lab 5r 

 and of little, if any, service. What is termed the " stamped 

 shoe/' is in every way preferable. The square or somewhat oval 

 cavity, wide at the top and tapering toward the bottom, gives a 

 secure and solid lodgment to the nail-head; which of course 

 should tit the cavity accurately ; it does not weaken the shoe, is 

 easily made, can be placed nearer the outer or inner margin of 

 the plate as required, and when rilled with the nail is as capable 

 of resisting wear as any other part of the shoe. It is usually 

 better to have the nail-holes stamped " coarse" (that is, at some 

 distance from the outer margin of the shoe) at points correspond- 

 ing to those parts of the hoof where the wall is strongest ; and 

 " finer" where the horn is thin and its fibres short. 



They should not, as a rule, incline outward or inward, but be 

 so perforated that the nail-point can take a strong or weak hold 

 of the wall, according to circumstances. If the hoof be strong, 

 with plenty of wall at its lower margin, then the holes may be 

 stamped coarse, in order to take a short but solid hold of it, by 

 driving the nail obliquely outward (as in Fig. 16, a). 



The number of nail-holes through which nails are to be driven 

 should be as few as possible. Every nail penetrating the wall 

 of the foot, no matter how skillfully it may be placed, may be 

 looked upon as a source of injury to it, by splitting asunder or 

 breaking its fibres. On the form and weight of the shoe will 

 greatly depend the number of nails required to retain it. With 

 that I have described as used in hunting, or as modified by me, 

 and which rests firmly on wall and sole, as well as being as light 



