Book VII. 



SHOEING OF HORSES. 



993 



Aloes, powdered, 8 drachms. 

 Oil of turpentine, 1 drachm. 



Strong. 

 Aloes, powdered, 10 drachms. 

 Oil of turpentine, 1 drachm. 



The aloes may be beattn with treacle to 

 a mass, adding, during the beating, the 

 oil of turpentine. All spices, oil of tartar, 

 cream of tartar, jalap, &c. are useless, and 

 often hurtful additions. 



6585. Liquid Purge. 

 Epsom salts, dissolved, 8 ouncei. 

 Castor oil, 4 ounces. 

 \Vatery tincture of aloes, 8 ounces. 



Mix. The watery tincture of aloes is 

 ruade by beating powdeved aloes with the 

 yolk of egg, adding water by degrees ; by 

 these means half an ounce of aloes may 

 be suspended in eight ounces of water'; 

 and such a purge is useful when a ball 

 cannot be got down, as in partial locked 



6586> Scalding Xi.iiure for Pole Evil. 

 Corrosive sublimate, finely powdered, 1 



drachm. 

 Yellow basilicon, 4 ounces. 



6587. Foot Stoppings. 

 Horse and cow dung, each about 2 lbs. 

 Tar, half a pound. 



6588. Wash for coring out, destroying 

 Fungus, or proud Flesh, S^c. (Sfc. 

 J/unar caustic, 1 drachm. 

 AVater, '2 ounces. 



6.5S<9. Wash for Mange. 

 Corrosive sublimate, 2 drachms. 

 !"'pirit of wine or'brandy, 1 ounce. 

 Decoction of tobacco. 



Ditto of white hellebore, of each 1 pint 



Dissolve the mercury 

 hen add the decoctions. 



fi 1 pm 

 Dissolve the mercury in the spirit, and 



6590. Ointments for Healing. 



Turner's cerate, 4 ounces. 



White vitriol, powdered, half a drachm. 



Lard, 4 ounces. 



6591. For Dtgesting. 



Turner's cerate, 2 buneeS. "^ '' 'i^- ' - 

 White vitriol, 1 drachm.' -"'':' jiu* 

 Yellow basilicon, 5' oiiRces. ; . ' 



6592 Far Manga. ; >; 



Sulphur vivum, 8 ounces. 

 Arsenic in powder, 2 drachms. 

 Mercurial ointment, 2 ounces. 

 Turpentine^ 2 ouncjs. 

 Lard, 8 ounces. 



Mix, and dress with every morning. 



6593. For Seal, or Shah in Shefp, MaUen. 

 ders and Scllinders in Horses, and foul 

 Blotches and Eruptions in'^'emP''fi 



Camphor, 1 drachm. . > I 

 Sugar of lead, half a drachm. 

 Mercurial ointment, 1 ounce. 



Sect. VIII. Shoeing of Horses. ^../. w.juw 



GoDl. The importance of the subject of shoeing to the agriculturist is sufficiently attested by the irnmfense' 

 number of inventions which the ingenuity of philosophers and artists are every day devising, to render 

 839 ^^^ system complete. Almost every veterinary professor has his favourite 



shoe ; and we find one of the most ingenious of the present day endeavouring 

 to force on our notice, and introduce into our stables, the French method ; 

 which, with the exception of the mode of nailing on, White observes, is 

 the very worst he ever saw. The French shoe [Jis- 8.'>9 a) has a wide web 

 towards the toe, and is concave above and convex below (6), on the ground 

 surface, by which neither the toe nor heel touch the ground (c) ; but the 

 horse stands pretty much in the same way with an unhappy cat, shod by 

 unlucky boys with walnut shells. But as Blaine observes, in reference to 

 these inventions, " No one form of foot defence can be Offered as a uni- 

 versal pattern." It is, he continues, plain that the principles of shoeing 

 ought to be those that allow as little departure from nature as circum- 

 stances will justify. The practice also should be strictly consonant to the 

 principles ; and both ought to consist, first, in removing no parts but 

 those which, if the bare hoof were applied to natural ground, would re- 

 move of themselves. Secondly, in bringing such parts in contact with the 

 ground (generally speaking) as are opposed to it in an unshod state ; and 

 above all, to endeavour to preserve the original form of the foot, by fram- 

 ing the shoe thereto ; but never to alter the foot to the defence. The shoe 

 at present made at the forges of the most respectable smiths in the cities 

 and large towns throughout the kingdom, if it have not all the requisites, 

 has however, by degrees, been so improved, that with a few additional 

 alterations, neither difficult to direct or adopt, it is the one we shall hold 

 up as the most eligible for general shoeing. It is not that a better might not be offered to notice; 

 and, in fact, such a one we shall present to our readers ; but so averse are the generality of smiths from 

 having any improvements forced on them, and so obstinately determined are they to adhere to the forms 

 handed down to them by their forefathers, that their stupidity or malevolence, or both, frequently 

 makes the improvement itself, when seemingly acquiesced in, a source of irreparable injury. It is for 

 these reasons we would recommend to agriculturists in general a modified shoe of the common stamp. 

 6595. The improved shoe for general use (Jig. 840.), is rather wider than what is usually made. Its nail 



840 



holes (a) extend no further towards the heels than is actually neces- 

 sary for security ; by which the expansion of these parts is encouraged, 

 and contraction is avoided. To strengthen the attachment, and to 

 make up for this liberty given to the heels, the nails sliould be carried 

 around the front of the shoe (c). The nail holes, on the under or 

 ground surface of the shoe (),are usually formed in a gutter, techni- 

 cally called the fullering ; but in the case of heavy treading powerful 

 horses this gutter may be omitted, or if adopted, the shoe in that part 

 may be steeled. The web should be quite even on the foot or hoof 

 surface (i), and not only be rather wider, but it should also have 

 rather more substance than is common : from half an inch to five 

 eighths in thickness, according to circumstance, forms a fair propor- 

 tion ; when it is less it is apt, in wearing, to bend to pressure and force 

 out the clinches. A great error is committed in setting shoes out so 

 much wider .than the heels themselves : this error has been devised to 

 correct another, which has been that of letting horses go too long 

 without shoeing ; in which case, if the heels of the shoe were not too 

 wide originally, as the foot grew, they became lost within the heels ; 

 and were thus bruised and produced corns : but as we will suppose 

 that few will wish to enter into a certain error to avoid an uncertain one, so we recommend that the heels 

 of the shoe should stand only wide enough to prevent the expansion of the quarters pushing the heels of 

 the feet over the outer edge of the heels of the shoe : for which purpose, if the iron project rather less 

 than a quarter of an inch, instead of three eighths, or even half an inch, as it frequently does, many 

 advantages will be gained. Whoever attentively examines a shoe well set offsit the heels, as it is termed, 

 will find only one third of its flat surface protecting the heels ; the remainder projects beyond, and serves 

 but to form a shelf to lodge dirt on ; or as a convenient clip for another horse to tread on ; or for the 

 wearer to cut his own legs with ; or to afford a more ready hold for the suction of clayey grounds to force 

 oft" the shoe by. The heels of the common shoe are likewise not in general sufficiently long for the pro- 

 tection of the foot; and which defect, more than a want of width, causes the tendency to press on the 

 crust of the heels. It is further to be observed, that if the decreased width of the outer standing of the 

 heels, and the increased width of the web, should make the inner angle of the shoe heel in danger of 

 interfering with the frog, the corner may be taken off. In forging this shoe, it may be bevelled, or left 

 plain on both surfaces, or rather nearly so, for it is usual with most smiths to thin it in some degree 

 towards the inner edge. This shoe is applicable to most feet, is easily formed, and as such, in country 

 places is all that can be expected. 



6596. The injurious ejects of bad shoeing would only require to be known to excite every endeavour to 

 obviate them ; and there are some circumstances in the more common shoes of country smiths that ought 



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