HISTOEY OF HOESE-SHOEING. 11 



Norwegian King Sigard the Crusader was shod with crescent- 

 shaped golden shoes on his entry into Constantinople. 



Father Daniel, however, states in his writings on horse- 

 shoeing, that the hoof was only shod in frosty weather, or when 

 exposed to special w^ear, as in travelling. 



The history of Sicily shows that shoeing was known there 

 in the eleventh century. At that time Sicily was held by the 

 Saracens ; and when they disagreed amongst themselves and 

 went to war, the weaker party called in the aid of Grecian 

 cavalry. The combined forces defeated their opponents, who 

 in retreat threw behind them sharply-pointed spikes, in order 

 to hinder the pursuers. But " the horses' feet were so shod 

 that the spikes could not injure them, nor impede the pursuit." 



"William the Conqueror is said to have found horse-shoeing 

 practised in England on his arrival in 1066, but others believe 

 he introduced it. He commissioned one of his noblemen, 

 Wakelin von Ferrariis, whom he promoted to be Count of 

 Ferrers and Derby, to superintend and encourage the art of 

 farriery. The shield of the Ferrers family carries six black 

 shoes on a silver ground. Their castellan at Oakham, in the 

 county of Eutland, has the privilege of demanding a horse-shoe 

 as tribute from every nobleman or baron of the Kingdom on his 

 first journey through the town. The shoes, together with the 

 giver's name, are affixed to the door of the castle.* 



In the year 1214 references are made to the art in French 

 history. On the occasion of bringing Count Ferrand of Flanders 

 to Paris as a prisoner, it is mentioned that " four well-shod 

 horses " drew Ferrand's carriage, — a proof that shoeing was 

 then knoW'U. After this time it is frequently referred to, as in 

 the works of Eufo in 1492, of Laurentius Eusius, who in 1531 

 wrote a work on veterinary science, in which he devoted 

 especial attention to shoeing, the treatment of deformed feet, 

 and to injuries from nails ; and especially of Cesare Fiaschi 

 (first edition, 1539), and of Carlo Euini in 1598. 



Fiaschi describes and figures shoes for many varying purposes, 

 his illustrations being the first in the literature of farriery. 

 This author distinguishes not only between front and hind shoes, 

 but between right and left, and between shoes wdth and without 



* This right is still in existence, and was exercised as late as the present year 

 (1897).— Jno. a. W. D. 



