8 HISTORY OF HORSE-SHOEING. 



foot bled. This would indicate that shoeing was known about 

 that time in Germany. A shoe, said to be the one in question, 

 is still exhibited in the Mcolai Church in Leipzig. 



The obscurity as to the origin of shoeing was somewhat dis- 

 sipated by the discovery of shoes in the Eoman fortress of 

 Saalburg, near Homburg, in 1870. The castle was built by 

 Drusus a few years before the birth of Christ, and remained 

 more or less continuously in the hands of the Romans until the 

 last quarter of the third century. The shoes there found 

 exhibit calkins in some cases, and are provided with four to 

 eight nail-holes. Whether these shoes belong to a Eoman or 

 a Germanic race of this period is still doubtful. The heels of 

 those unprovided with calkins present a certain resemblance to 

 the heels of interfering shoes, — that is, they are deep, and 

 narrower at the ground than at the hoof surface. The shoe 

 figured * is one quarter of the real size, shows no fullering, is 

 from "I inch to 1^ inch broad in the web, 4 to 5 inches long, and 

 3 to 4 inches broad over all, — that is, it is below medium size. 



Many authors believe that certain tribes in Africa, Asia, and 

 Eastern Europe were already acquainted with and practised 

 horse-shoeing before the dwellers in the Eoman Empire. Thus, 

 in the East, the Mongols claim to have shod witli iron since 

 the earliest times. Their shoes resemble our bar shoe, save in 

 being fastened by three clips instead of nails. The Arabian 

 shoe is said to be merely a modification of this Asiatic pattern, 

 with the single difference that it is fastened with nails. (Com- 

 pare Bouley and Eeynal, Dictionnaire de MMecine V6Urin, 6.) 



Shoeing was more widely practised in the Middle Ages. 

 The oldest shoe of the Merovingian time is that from the grave 

 of Childeric, King of the Franks (died 481), which was found 

 in 1653, together with other remains. It was, however, so 

 injured by rust that on being grasped it fell to pieces, — the 

 larger piece has been completed in the figure (fig. 3). 

 Beckmann, and afterwards Eueff, doubted whether this had 

 been a shoe. Eueff, who claimed that it was a portion of a 

 saddle frame, supports his case as follows : — 



" So many other portions of harness were present, such as 

 bits and stirrups, that it seems possible the saddle was also 

 interred. Is it not straining the point to believe that, in a grave 



* Gohausen and Jacobi (Das Romercastell Saalburg). 



