Il6 HORSES: 



obtained during a sojourn of many years in foreign 

 countries, especially in America, where in the con- 

 struction of railways and other public works he had 

 to employ hundreds of horses and mules on tasks 

 which taxed their capabilities to the utmost. In 

 Mexico, Peru, Brazil, and elsewhere he found that 

 unshod horses were daily worked over roads of all 

 kinds, carrying heavy packs from the interior down 

 to the coast, the journey thither and back being often 

 extended to several hundreds of miles, and that they 

 accomplished these journeys without ever wearing 

 out their hoofs ; and the roads in these countries, 

 where they exist at all, are neither softer nor smoother 

 than those of England or of Ireland. If horses fell 

 lame it was from causes incidental to the climate, and 

 for these the system of shoeing would supply no 

 remedy. From other diseases, which from strong and 

 often incontestable reasons may be traced to the 

 use of shoes, they were wholly free. The necessary 

 conclusion was that the system of shoeing could 

 answer no good purpose, while it might be productive 

 of much harm ; and in this conclusion he was con- 

 firmed by the admissions and protests of the most 

 able and competent veterinary surgeons in this coun- 

 try. These have uniformly raised their voices against 

 the heavy weighting of the horse's foot maintained 

 by the traditional practice. It has been found here 

 that the hoofs of some horses are so weak that they 

 can not be fully shod ; and a writer in the Fields 

 styling himself " Impecuniosus," cited some ten years 

 ago a remark by Mayhew that " some horses will go 



