102 HORSES AND ROADS. 



As this gentleman owns a number of horses, the 

 question must be of considerable pecuniary import- 

 ance to him ; and if, by an indiscreet step, he had 

 injured his horse, he would have been likely to 

 become disgusted, and have desisted, and so have 

 thrown away a chance of benefiting his whole stable ; 

 and, besides, the farrier would have turned the 

 laugh, which he got up at the mere idea of such a 

 thing, unpleasantly against him. It is to be hoped 

 that he will do a little less at the next trial, and 

 then he will not find his horse ' going tender.' 



A gentleman writes privately : ' I once rode a 

 hack for six weeks, in comparatively dry weather, 

 with only tips, the heels being quite bare. The 

 heels grew and expanded as you describe, and nothing 

 could be pleasanter to horse and rider ; but no 

 sooner did a wet time set in than I was obliged to 

 revert to the full shoe — at least, 7 thought so.' (!) 

 The naivete herein apparent could hardly be sur- 

 passed. This gentleman received the highest educa- 

 tion that England affords, and took his degree. No 

 one can ' spot ' him, so there is no breach of confi- 

 dence in divulging the fact that he is a clergyman 

 of the Church of England. Yet even a man of this 

 calibre was not proof against a popular delusion. 



To come back again on the question of shoeing 

 ' hot ' or ' cold,' which ' Aberlorna ' has revived. It 

 is well known that thereon veterinary surgeons differ. 

 In these articles one veterinary surgeon has been 

 cited who was intensely opposed to hot shoeing ; as 

 also an American ' practical horse-shoer,' the author 



