THE UNSHOD HOOF WILL NOT SLIP. 85 



collier, a third a groom, and so on throughout the 

 dozen. Hitherto tradition and routine have been 

 permitted to guide farriers in ^their wondrous ways 

 of horse-shoeing; consequently it is a question 

 whether, in following the manners and customs of 

 their forefathers, they are more to be blamed than the 

 general pubHc' By ' the general pubHc ' it is pre- 

 sumable that jNIr. Douglas meant the generality of 

 horse owners. The general public knows nothing 

 about the shoeing of horses. 



During this present winter, rate- and tax-payers 

 have clamoured in the daily papers for sand, ashes, 

 salt, &c., to be sown broadcast, at their own expense, 

 on all the streets of London, and at an hour or two's 

 notice, in order to prevent the slipping of horses, 

 and the destruction of life and property thereby 

 occasioned. In times of frost and snow this sudden 

 and extensive distribution can never be accompHshed 

 in time for all ; in the case of snow it is almost 

 useless, because it will not prevent snow from balling 

 in the feet of shod horses — except they be shod 

 Charlier fashion. The real remedy lies in the 

 hands of the horse owners, and they could, if they 

 chose, economise for themselves at the same time 

 that they took a heavy charge from the shoulders of 

 the rate- and tax-payers. The unshod horse will not 

 slip upon either asphalte, wood, or granite pave- 

 ments, or even on glare ice, because the natural 

 healthy hoof is rough enough, and tough enough, to 

 hold on a smooth surface, unless indeed you should 

 ask the horse to keep back a hea\'y load, when going 



