THEIR FEED AND THEIR FEET. 



123 



opinions expressed by the most able writers on the 

 horse, and especially on the structure and treatment 

 of his feet, as well as by the best veterinary surgeons. 

 The verdict of the Lancet is almost more emphatic. 

 " As a matter of physiological fitness," it says, 

 " nothing more indefensible than the use of shoes can 

 be imagined. Not only is the mode of attaching 

 them by nails injurious to the hoof, it is the probable, 

 if not evident, cause of many affections of the foot 

 and leg, which impair the usefulness and must affect 

 the comfort of the animal." If we add that the 

 hunter is benefited almost more than other horses by 

 being allowed to use his feet as nature made them, 

 the admission is made in the interests of the horse 

 and not as an expression of opinion on the contro- 

 versy respecting the right or the wrong of fox-hunt- 

 ing. It is enough to say that for horses which have 

 to move rapidly, and to come down with a sudden 

 shock on sticky and sHppery ground, the natural 

 course of the process of expansion and contraction is 

 of the first importance. For those who may care 

 nothing for the gratification of hunting men, it may 

 be amusing or provoking to learn that in times of 

 hard frost hunters have been enabled to chase the 

 prey by the aid of gutta-percha soles fastened to the 

 feet ; but all who are anxious only for the welfare of 

 the horse will see in this fact strong evidence of the 

 uselessness of the iron shoe. The plain truth is that 

 differences in the quality of soil, be it hard or soft, 

 stony or sandy, smooth and slippery, are of com- 

 paratively little importance to the horse whose feet 



