678 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 



supplant the ordinary method if carried out as I have 

 advised ; but it will no doubt always remain, like the tip 

 and three-quarter shoe, a valuable accessory mode of 

 defending and preserving the hoof, and remedying its 

 diseases or defects. This view would aj^pear to be gain- 

 ing ground in Paris, where it was at first employed for 

 every purpose. Its utility has now become better known, 

 and its use is, perhaps, much more limited than it was 

 some time ago. 



I need not enter into a discussion in this place as to 

 the advantages or disadvantages of the French mode of 

 ajusture, or curving up the toes of the shoes en bateau. 

 It may be sufficient to state that, for the hind-shoes, it is 

 a grave mistake, as the horse relies greatly on the toes 

 of these feet in propelling himself and he cannot so 

 well make the ground a fixed point, if the sharp edge 

 be rounded upwards. It is scarcely more reasonable 

 when applied to the fore-shoes. 



Goodwin, followed by Miles, has founded his recom- 

 mendation on a very morbid specimen of an os pedis. 

 We do not require abnormal examples to guide us in 

 devising an armature for a healthy organ. Others have 

 pointed out the natural wear as indicated by a worn-out 

 shoe ; as well might we have our own new boots and 

 shoes fashioned at the heels and toes exactly like those 

 we can no longer wear. For stumbling horses, shoes of 

 this shape may be useful, but otherwise they should not be 

 employed. In some respects they cause a loss of power 

 to the horse, and at all times the farrier is liable to err in 

 giving too much curve. This not only damages the hoof, 

 but it makes the horse's support less secure. It has been 



