HORSE-SHOEING. 191 



experience in the matter. It is impossible to level the ends of 

 the horn-fibres so accurately that they will all rest evenly on the 

 surface of the iron ; so those which are most prominent soon 

 giving way to pressure, the bed of the shoe is altered, and this, 

 becoming loose, is either lost, or we have projecting clenches. 

 And even should the fibres be made perfectly level, wet softens 

 them, causing them to become pulpy and shorter, by which 

 means the seat of the shoe is impaired and the nails lose their 

 firm hold of the wall. Ample experience on active service, as 

 well as that gathered at home during peace, has demonstrated 

 the instability resulting from cold fitting. 



Owing to the increased trouble and loss of time incurred by 

 this method in attempts to make the shoe fit somewhat accurately, 

 but few. farriers can afford or are willing to resort to it. Hence, 

 when it is practised, if the shoe is at all like the foot, it is put on, 

 and rasp and knife insure the hoof being made to fit it. This 

 proceeding is very injurious. 



In hot fitting we have none of these objections. The shoe is 

 very readily adapted to the foot ; it is more equally applied, and 

 rests solidly on the hoof, so that the nails are not broken or 

 displaced by the shoe becoming loose ; in fine, there- is a more 

 intimate contact between the iron and the surface of the horn. 

 The very fact of burning or fusing the ends of the fibres insures 

 a solid, durable bed which cannot be obtained otherwise, as this 

 destroys the spongy absorbent properties of the horn and renders 

 it eminently calculated to withstand the influence of moisture. 

 The effects produced on horn by the hot iron have been compared 

 to those of fire on pieces of wood whose ends have been super- 

 ficially carbonized before being buried in the ground. Every one 

 knows that this operation contributes to the preservation of the 

 wood by preserving it from the action of humidity. 



Horn is a very slow conductor of heat, and it requires a very 



