APPENDIX TO SECOND EDITION. i6l 



gard to this method, Col. M. C. Weld says : * The 

 shoes should be left on as long as they will hold, in 

 order that when taken off there shall be a wide rim 

 of horn all around the hoof to be cut away. This 

 would otherwise have to grow out before it could be 

 removed either by the knife, by the rasp, or by wear. 

 Then the horse should be turned out to pasture or 

 used only for farm work. Every few days his feet 

 should be examined, and rasped off if necessary. As 

 the wall of the hoof grows and wears, the extreme 

 outer edge all around will be level, or nearly level, 



with the inner edge of the wall The first 



changed appearance of the hoof that will be noticed 

 after the shoes are removed will be the growth of a 

 healthy rim of new horn-, seen under the hairs of the 

 coronet ; next, a widening or spreading of the heel and 

 an enlargement of the frog. It takes a full year for 

 the whole hoof to grow out and off ; consequently it 

 takes nearly that time for a contracted, high-heeled, 

 frogless foot to assume its normal form. In the win- 

 ter a barefooted horse will not ball and will not slip 

 if he knows he is on the ice, and, if he comes upon it 

 unawares, he gets his footing almost immediately. I 

 have never had a horse slip badly even on ice covered 

 with snow. The danger is not to be compared with 

 that to a shod horse with snowballs attached to each 

 foot, coming upon an icy spot, as often happens. If 

 heavy loads are to be drawn, shoes with calks are 

 needed, especially in starting and going up icy hills. 

 For general driving in the country, for farm use, and 

 for ordinary road use, when the labor is not severe, 



