J98 



HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 



fig. 64 

 formed from the shoe itself 



'The most numerous is that shown in figure 64. At 



the toe it is more than twice 

 as broad as at the heel, but 

 it is thinner throughout than 

 a German shoe of now-a- 

 days. All shoes of this kind 

 are furnished with calks at 

 the heels, and sometimes at 

 the toes, some of which have 

 been welded on after the 

 shoe was made, and others 

 The greater number have a 

 groove, in which there are generally eight nail-holes. The 

 seat of the shoe is flat. The heads of the nails are some- 

 times narrow and sometimes broad, and project beyond 

 the shoe. This variety of shoe is of several sizes, and no 

 difference can be perceived between those of the fore and 

 hind feet. According to tradition, it has been assumed 

 that these broad shoes dug up in certain places were 

 brought into the country by foreign armies, particularly 

 by the Swedes (1632-48); but if one considers that not 

 quite a hundred years ago there w^ere no high roads in the 

 country, and that horses were used mostly on badly-con- 

 structed paths, it is then probable that with us such a 

 broad shoe was customary and necessary for special pro- 

 tection to the hoof. Still less should it be assumed that these 

 shoes, as some would wish us to believe, were introduced 

 by Roman armies ; for the Romans have been expelled 

 Germany since the 3rd century, and it might well be asked 

 whether iron would remain so long in the ground (1500 

 years) without becoming entirely destroyed by rust. . . . 



