6o2 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 



to be influenced by clay or mud, and to do far less dam- 

 age to the horse than this newly-invented one ? Few 

 men, I think, would be found who would ride a horse 

 to hounds unless it had been previously shod for that 

 purpose ; and all who have ridden hard know that these 

 shoes must be of a certain pattern, and be particularly 

 firmly attached to the feet. The ordinary, light hunting- 

 shoe is incomparably superior to the new invention in 

 every respect ; indeed, from the presence of toe-calks, the 

 defective position and form of the nail-holes, and its 

 clumsiness, this shoe is a very perilous and misuitable 

 one for the hunting-field, or even for ordinary road pur- 

 poses, while the resuscitated method of cold-fitting makes 

 it still less secure. 



It will be observed from the figures given of this 

 patented shoe, that the projections which stud its lower 

 surface, and which have been more eloquently than cor- 

 rectly compared to ostrich claws, make it a most danger- 

 ous article ; as in over-reaching, a horse must inflict serious 

 wounds on itself, and in all probability come down with 

 its rider, if it be a riding-horse, as their front edge is quite 

 sharp ; while horses that, through defective formation 

 or temporary physical causes, are liable to strike their legs 

 with the opposite feet, must inevitably produce grave 

 wounds or contusions with a shoe of this kind. Being 

 machine-made, the iron is not of such good quality as 

 that of ordinary shoes, and to compensate for this, and 

 insure wear for a reasonable time, thicker and heavier 

 defences have to be worn. The nail-holes (eight in each 

 shoe) are most defective in form and position, and being 

 grouped in twos, must weaken the hoof by having the 



