184 



HORSE-SHOEING. 



as is compatible with a certain period of wear, but few nails are 

 needed. The ordinary heavy shoe, on the contrary, is not only 

 damaging to the foot, because it rests on such a narrow basis, 

 but also because its weight and instability necessitates its being 

 attached by a large number of long thick nails, which do great 

 harm to the hoof. 



Fig. 16. 



With care in fitting a properly constructed shoe, and skill in 

 placing the nails firmly in sound horn, the usual number may be 

 considerably reduced; so that instead of seven to ten being 

 required, it will be found that from four to six are equally service- 

 able, and even these may be of diminished size. For shoes worn 

 by medium-sized draught horses, I seldom allow more than six 

 nails in the fore and seven in the hind feet ; more frequently the 

 former are secured by five nails — three in the outside and two 

 in the inside branch of the shoe, and the latter by three on 

 each side. 



The fewer the number of nail-holes, the greater is the 

 necessity for distributing them wide apart ; indeed, it is a 

 grave blunder to cluster the nails closely together in the hoof, 

 as they break and weaken the horn, and attach the shoe much 

 less | securely than if they were spread over a wider surface. 



