CHAPTER 11. 



THE PRACTICE OF SHOEING. 



1. Management and Conthol of the Hokse. 



The horse, as n rule, and especially when well treated, is 

 eminently tractable, and if we have frequently to deal with 

 animals which resent the manipulation necessary during shoe- 

 ing, it is less on account of the horse's vice than of the farrier's 

 bad management. The farrier may fairly require that horses 

 brought to him should be accustomed to ordinary handling. 

 It is scarcely his business to practise horse-breaking, though 

 he occasionally finds some restraint absolutely necessary. 

 Such means must be used, however, with great discretion, 

 unless they are, on the one hand, to degenerate into cruelty, or, 

 on the other, to render the subject worse than before. In 

 handling horses we should endeavour to obtain their con- 

 fidence, and, therefore, quietness, firmness, a certain amount of 

 strength and courage are required, as well as a knowledge of 

 horses in general. We should try to discover whether the 

 horse is restless from being unused to shoeing, from fear of 

 a repetition of previous ill-treatment, from excess of spirit, 

 from the absence of a companion, or from pain in the feet or 

 joints. 



The method of handling older horses, or such as are accustomed 

 to shoeing, is of less importance. As a rule, when properly 

 managed, they lift their feet willingly, and shoeing proceeds 

 without difficulty. It is otherwise, however, in young, raw, 

 vicious, or timid horses, which require special precautions. 

 The following points should be borne in mind : — 

 (a) The horse should never be tied up with a fixed knot. 

 The best plan is to pass the shank of the halter through a 

 rino', and then twist the free end two or three times around the 



