SHOES FOR GENERAL PURPOSES. 66i 



natural condition would suffer injury if anything came 

 in contact with it. Many years' experience of this plane 

 foot-surfaced shoe, in various regions of the globe, and 

 on feet of every kind and quality, have proved the sound- 

 ness of this view. The foot is brought as near to a state 

 of nature when the greater part of its plantar surface sup- 

 ports the weight of the body, as man can hope to achieve 

 while submitting the horse to an artificial state of exist- 

 ence. 



From what has been said, it will be understood that 

 in speaking of a light shoe, a narrow and thin plate of 

 iron was meant. The narrowness of the metal insures a 

 good foot-hold — in this respect imitating the crust, — while 

 its thinness brings the sole, frog, and bars in closer 

 approximation to the ground. 



It is a most difficult matter to devise a shoe that 

 will meet every requirement. The heavy draught-horse, 

 doomed to bring into play every muscle while endeavour- 

 ing to move and drag along an enormous load, must have 

 his feet differently armed to the hunter or race-horse, in 

 which speed is the chief requisite. Taking into account 

 the different character of the horny textures, it is none 

 the less true that the same rule holds good in all with 

 regard to the sole and frog sustaining weight, though in 

 the slow-moving animal it is of less importance, perhaps, 

 than in the lighter and more fleet ones. The massive 

 draught-horse reqviires toe-and-heel projections on the 

 ground-surface of the shoes to economize his locomotive 

 powers and to aid his impulsive efforts ; though his hoofs 

 none the less require the observance of those conservative 

 principles which have been so strongly insisted upon, but 



