588 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 



tion may be safely carried so far, that the ground-surface 

 of the shoe and the sole are on the same level, and share 

 in supporting the weight and strain imposed upon them. 

 With feet damaged by previous maltreatment, this cannot 

 be done until the horn has been sufficiently regenerated ; 

 and in the mean time the shoe may be allowed to project 

 a little above the sole, and particularly towards the heels ; 

 though it does not last so long, does not hold so fast, and 

 the frog, not coming entirely on the ground, is longer in 

 regaining its healthy conformation. In these cases, lighter 

 shoes might be used, though they must be replaced more 

 frequently ; but in this the hoof does not suffer, the nails 

 being so small and few in number, and no paring or 

 rasping being allowed. With feet of this description it 

 sometimes happens that after the first application of the 

 shoes, the horse does not travel well for three or four 

 days, or sometimes even longer ; he is afraid to touch 

 the ground. Rest, or gentle exercise on soft soil, will 

 suffice to give him assurance and free action ; and as a 

 longer time elapses, every inconvenience disappears ; the 

 sole and crust which are never mutilated become thick 

 and natural, and then stronger shoes may be applied, and 

 imbedded deeper.' 



M. Charlier remarks, that it is not rare to see parts of 

 the sole exfoliate in flakes during the first months of his 

 method of shoeing ; this, he says, is the dead horn which 

 is being removed to give place to a good secretion as 

 elastic as it is resisting, and in this case it may be useful to 

 aid nature, by carefully excising these flakes, which, if 

 allowed to project, would produce the effects of a foreign 

 body. In this, I think, he is mistaken, as in my experi- 



