IMPORTANCE OF SOUND FEET. 5 



the uses of the horse have been so multiplied and so much 

 more necessary for our business or pleasure, the truth ot 

 this advice has been daily receiving confirmation, until the 

 aphorism ' No foot, no horse,' has become a painful reality 

 in modern days, though it is but a re-echo of what was 

 enunciated centuries beyond two thousand years ago. 



For the manifestation of his strength and the due 

 performance of his useful qualities, the horse must, there- 

 fore, rely upon the soundness of his feet, as in them are 

 concentrated the efforts created elsewhere ; and on them 

 depend not only the sum total of these propulsive powers 

 being properly expended, but also the solidity and just 

 equilibrium of the whole animal fabric. So that it is 

 wisely considered that the foot of the horse is one of the 

 most, if not the most, important part of all the locomotory 

 apparatus; and that all the splendid qualities possessed by 

 the noble creature may be diminished in value or hope- 

 lessly lost, if through disease or accident, natural or ac- 

 quired defects, or other causes, this organ fails to perform 

 its allotted task. 



Seeing, then, the great interest which attaches to this 

 animal, in its being of all creatures most concerned with 

 man in promoting a progressive and long-continued civil- 

 ization, and to the means and appliances which the lord 

 of the creation has from time to time brought to bear in 

 increasing the utility (would I could say comfort and 

 happiness !) of this devoted servant, T have entered on 

 the present inquiry into the origin and early history of 

 what is generally looked upon as a humble art ; for the 

 simple reason that it affbrds us a glimpse, or rather a faint 

 idea, of an obscure occupation, a modest handicraft, in- 



