486 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 



nourishment from the vascular sole ; its softness and 

 pliancy are due to its thickness, and its nourishment is 

 diminished, while it becomes harder, in direct proportion 

 to the thinness we give it ; we even see horses whose 

 soles are pared, habitually lame. The air, when the sole 

 is in this state of thinness, penetrates and dries it to such 

 a degree, that if care is not taken to keep it damp when 

 the animal is in a dry place, it contracts and presses on 

 the vascular sole ; so that, if some time after we wish to 

 pare the sole again, it is not possible to do so, because it 

 is so hard and dry that the boutoir will not touch it, and 

 the horse goes lame. . . . What risk does a horse not 

 incur who has nearly been deprived of his soles through 

 this paring ! If he encounters stones, broken glass, or 

 nails, these easily penetrate to the sensitive sole, and cripple 

 him for a long time, if not for ever. 



' When a horse loses a shoe — a circumstance fre- 

 quently occurring, and if the hoof is pared, the animal can- 

 not walk a hundred steps without going lame ; because in 

 this state the lower surface of the foot being hollowed, 

 the horse's weight falls on the crust, and this having no 

 support from the horny sole, is quickly broken and worn 

 away ; and if he meets hard substances on the road, he all 

 the more speedily becomes lame. It is not so when the 

 sole is allowed to retain its whole strength. The shoe 

 comes off, but the sole and frog rest on the ground, assist 

 the crust in bearing the greater part of the weight of the 

 body, and the animal, though unshod, is able to pursue 

 his journey safe and sound. 



' It is a fact that every horse, except those which have 

 the feet diseased and soles convex, and to which shoes are 



