EFFECTS OF P J RING. 641 



them and the shoe, however, is rasped away, and the face 

 of the foot presents a rounded or knobbed appearance 

 very unlike its natural outline. In all probability, the 

 whole external surface up to the coronet is tastefully 

 rasped and polished, the varnish-like covering nature had 

 spread over it is carefully removed,' and the fibres beneath 

 are more or less damaged, are exposed to desiccation, and 

 shrink ; while below- the clenches they have been entirely 

 destroyed, and nothing is left to support the nails holding 

 on the shoe but the thin soft fibres, as fragile almost as 

 the pith of a rush, and which were never intended by 

 nature to be exposed. Consequently, they lose their 

 moisture, wither, chip, crack, and break off", and frequently 

 the shoe is lost, and with it a large portion of the hoof. 



The same process goes on with the sole and frog. 

 The young horn, prematurely exposed, cannot resist the 

 effects of evaporation, and shrinks in the sam^e way. At 

 each shoeing the same routine is followed by the farrier, 

 and the horn is often so hard that artificial means must 

 be adopted to soften it, in order to get off^ a sufficient 

 quantity to allow the sole to spring under the thumb. 



In this we cannot altogether blame the farrier ; he is 

 only carrying out the ideas of men who have published 

 books on shoeing. Can we wonder that it soon becomes 

 necessary to adopt every mieans to supply artificially that 

 which has been removed so indiscreetly. Heavy iron shoes 

 with plenty of cover to defend the morbidly sensitive horn 

 of the soles, which may have been thinned till the blood 



^ So valuable is this protection, and so easily is it removed, that the 

 groom or stableman, when \\'ashing the horse's hoofs, should never 

 allow his water-brush to pass along the face of the crust. This part 

 should be cleaned wiih a soft sponge. 



41 



