5i6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 



by William Moorcroft/ assistant professor, and afterwards 

 the daring explorer of Central Asia. After describing, 

 like some of his later predecessors, the anatomy of the 

 foot and the principles which ought to prevail in its de- 

 fence, and pointing out that in proportion as a greater 

 quantity of crust is brought to bear flat on the shoe the 

 firmer the horse must stand ; and the less pressure that 

 takes place between the sole and the shoe, the less chance 

 will there be of his being lamed, he speaks of various 

 shoes. As those intended for the fore-feet have always, 

 and rightly, been looked upon as the most important, 

 considering that they have to bear the principal portion 

 of the weight, and that the fore-feet are by far the most 

 frequently lamed, the defences for this region will only 

 be noticed here. Moorcroft describes the narrow shoe, 

 or plate — a flat shoe, the exact breadth of the crust, 

 and of a moderate thickness : this was only serviceable 

 for racing-horses and hunters. ' A flat shoe, of the exact 

 breadth of the crust, and of a moderate thickness, would 

 defend this part sufficiently as long as it lasted ; but as it 

 would wear out in a few days, or ev^en in a few hours, when 

 the friction happened to be violent, and as very frequent 

 shoeing is expensive, as well as hurtful to the hoof itself, 

 this kind of shoe is only fit for racing, or hunting on soft 

 ground.'^ Then the shoe with a fiat upper surface, and 

 broader than the crust, is figured. This he thinks ob- 

 jectionable, as it would press on a portion of the sole 

 and cause lameness ; so that, to avoid such a mishap, 

 the sole is required to be pared or hollowed out, which 



' Cursory Account of the Various Methods of Shoeing Horses. 

 London, 1800. ' Op. cit., p. 6. 



