BRkCY CLARK ON THE SHOD AND UNSHOD FOOT. 19o 



what Bracy Clark calls ' the miserable, coerced, shod 

 foot,' and entering that seventh heaven of a horse- 

 man, where the bother, anxiety, and expense of shoes 

 are unknown, you must bear in mind that the horn 

 at the toe will still be somewhat brittle, and may 

 chip away until the nail-holes have grown down to 

 the ground. This is to be prevented or remedied 

 by following Osmer's advice to ' keep them rasped 

 round and short at the toe.' The nail-holes will 

 grow out much sooner than may be expected. 



Hear Bracy Clark on the difference of the rate 

 of growth of horn in the shod and unshod horse : — 

 ' To consider all the beauty and purposes of the 

 singular construction of the foot, we must dismiss 

 from our views the miserable, coerced, shod foot 

 entirely, and consider the animal in a pure state of 

 nature, using his foot without any defence. . . 

 The wall, or crust, of the hoof, where there is a 

 demand for its wear^ grows rapidly, as when in a 

 state of nature and exposed to the ground ; but, 

 shod, it loses this power in so great a degree that in 

 many horses a few thin slices only can be removed 

 at each shoeing, after the interval of four or five 

 weeks, in which time twenty times as much horn 

 would have been produced had there been a demand 

 for it.' It may be doubted by some that horn can 

 grow so fast when allowed to do so, and it may be 

 asked where it is tc be seen. On the heels and 

 quarters attrition uses it up as fast as it grows, and 

 so these parts never require rasping — in fact, they 



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