6^6 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 



This is another objection. A greater one lies in the 

 danger of a shoe breaking or coming off when there is 

 not another at hand to take its place. The horse could 

 not travel very far on the sole and frog alone, and the 

 road-side farrier would have much difficulty in attaching 

 an ordinary shoe. 



To be safe, it must not be deeply incrusted, especially 

 in thin hoofs, and then the portion projecting above the 

 level of the sole, from its thinness, is quickly worn. It 

 certainly prevents slipping on pavement, but, it would 

 appear, is not found so beneficial on ice. As a winter 

 shoe, I fear it will be useless, as there is no means of 

 attaching anything to it to give the horse a grip on 

 ice ; even frost-nails cannot be advantageously used. 

 Again, as a pathological shoe, when dressings or other 

 appliances are required for the sole, this will afford no 

 assistance in retaining them, like the ordinary shoe. It 

 must always be fitted hot ; in this respect it is inferior 

 to the sub-plantar shoe, which, on an emergency, can be 

 fitted and attached without a forge. 



It will not be suitable for every description of hoof, 

 particularly one in which there is any tendency to separa- 

 tion between the sole and wall ; neither will it altogether 

 suffice for hunting or racing purposes. Of course, on 

 any kind of horse, one would not think of applying it 

 indiscriminately to the hind-feet ; indeed on these there 

 is no necessity for it. On the fore-feet of a hunter it 

 does not afford, one would think, a sufficient grip of the 

 ground, and appears to offer no advantages beyond its 

 being, perhaps, a trifle lighter than the shoe I have pro- 

 posed. The hunter's sole and frog, if left unpared, receive 



