16 THE horse's foot, 



power ot resistance in the bars, and ultimate contraction of 

 the feet. It is self-evident, that the removing any portion 

 from the sides of the bars must diminish their substance, and 

 render them weaker, and consequently less able to resist con- 

 traction. 



If it were not for the unaccountable prejudice in favor 

 of carving the frog into shape at every shoeing, I should have 

 had very little to say about it in this place : my only direc- 

 tion, as a general rule, would have been, to leave it alone, 

 and never allow a knife to approach it: but this far-spread 

 prejudice renders it necessary for me to explain why the 

 knife must be so entirely withheld from the frog, while its 

 liberal application to the other parts of the foot is shown to 

 be so beneficial to them. First, then, the frog has naturally 

 less power of producing horn than any other part of the 

 foot ; and the effect of shoeing seems to be, still further to 

 diminish this power by obstructing the expansion of the hoof, 

 and thereby exposing the membrane which secretes the horn 

 to undue pressure : indeed in the generality of feet it would 

 appear almost to check the growth of the frog altogether ; 

 for if we compare the size of the frog with the circumfer- 

 ence of the foot in a horse long accustomed to be shod, we 

 shall find the space occupied by it will not exceed one-tenth 

 or one-twelfth of the whole circumference ; whereas, in the 

 natural and unshod foot it occupies about one-sixth. Now 

 this dwindling down to one-half its proper size is the direct 

 effect of shoeing and paring ; but I believe that much the 

 larger portion of the mischief is attributable to the unneces- 

 sary evil of paring, rather than the necessary one of shoeing. 

 The reason assig-ned for further mutilatins: this fast diminish- 

 ing organ at every shoeing, is a most unfounded dread that 

 it would run all over the foot, if it were not for the controlling 

 influence of the drawing-knife : and so general is this belief, 

 that it is entertained more or less by almost every smith, 

 notwithstanding the daily, nay hourly, evidence that is pre- 

 sented to his senses of the gradual but certain diminution 

 of the frogs of nearly all the horses which he shoes. I 

 have horses in my possession whose frogs have not been 

 touched by a knife for five years, and yet it has never oc- 

 curred to any one that they are overgrown ; but every one 

 is attracted by the evenness of surface and fine expanded 

 cleft which they present. Perhaps about one in a thousand 

 may form an exception ; where a large loose-textured frog 

 may require a little paring once or twice in a year. The 



