188 HORSES AND ROADS. 



horse could do his work over the paved streets of 

 London, which are the cause of so much injury to 

 shod horses through their slipping about upon them 

 so continually, and the ' concussion striking through 

 the iron up the leg ' (Douglas). 



This brings us back again to the question of 

 roads — there are no bad ones for an unshod horse ; 

 but neither the hardest nor the roughest are the 

 worst. 



We have before cited Xenophon, but now we will 

 do so more fully. He says : ' Damp and smooth 

 stable-floors injure even naturally good hoofs ; to 

 prevent damp, they should slope backwards.' The 

 damp of acrid excrement is evidently implied. ' To 

 prevent them from being smooth, they should have 

 irregular-shaped stones inserted in the ground, and 

 close to one another, similar to a horse's hoof in 

 size ; for such stable-floors give firmness to the 

 feet of horses that stand upon them. The ground 

 outside the stable-door, upon which the horse is 

 groomed, may be put into excellent condition, and 

 serve to strengthen the horse's feet, if a person 

 throws down upon it here and there four or five 

 measures full of round stones, large enough to fill 

 the two hands, and each about a pound in weight, 

 surrounding such spaces with an iron rim, so that 

 the stones may not get scattered ; for as the horse 

 stands on these, he will be in much the same con- 

 dition as if he were made to travel part of every 

 day on a stony road. A horse must also move his 

 hoof when he is being rubbed down, or when he is 



