134 HORSES AND ROADS. 



him : ' Mr. E. Flower, of Hyde Park Gardens, has 

 agitated this question for some time with that exag- 

 gerated enthusiasm which is essential if any deep- 

 seated grievance is to be reformed. No great reform 

 from the time of Martin Luther to Clarkson and 

 Wilberforce has ever been effected by cautious 

 advocates and soft suggestions.' Mr. Flower has 

 happily succeeded in convincing many that he was 

 right. Even some ' fashionable ' sporting men threw 

 away the bearing-rein in their teams, rightly judg- 

 ing that, whilst their horses thus went better, they 

 also looked better. Managers of heavy traffic, and 

 owners of the hardest-worked slaves, find that thev 

 have been gainers by abandoning it. They will soon 

 make the same discovery in the matter of shoes. 



Mayhew says : ' That cannot he right the results 

 of which are purely evil.'' 



The use of horseshoes is a sin; they are un- 

 necessary, and ' their results are purely evil : ' they 

 torture the animal and shorten his life ; and the sin 

 carries along with it the curse of being a continual 

 source of worry and expense to his owner. 



' Fashion ' cannot plead effectually in their 

 favour, as they detract from action, activity, smart- 

 ness, and speed. But then, perhaps, 'fashion' 

 demands clatter; there is no accounting for taste. 



The bearing-rein would be still less needed for a 

 horse which, having no pains in his feet, would not 

 be shifting them about, and putting himself into 

 slouching postures at every moment in order to 

 relieve them. 



