164 THE HORSE 



often actually the first point attended to by the 

 amateur horse-breaker. We do not hold Avith this 

 early shoeing, and consider that, for a variety of 

 reasons, the business is best deferred until the colt 

 is so far broken as to be fit to drive regularly. 

 Leaving out of the question the undue fright ex- 

 perienced by an almost unhandled animal, and the 

 hoiTor and dislike with which in consequence it 

 may, in futm^e, associate a visit to the blacksmith, 

 a young horse is much more likely to injure him- 

 self, or do harm of some sort, if he is shod. 

 Furthermore, if the breaking process is unduly 

 prolonged owing to galled shoulders, the ammal 

 will be as well without shoes during his enforced 

 idleness. The feet must, of com^se, be trimmed 

 up, and the edges of the hoofs rasped to prevent a 

 tearing out of ragged edges, and if this is attended 

 to, the horse will be able to do quite a lot of work 

 on dry roads without further attention. 



The dampness of our clunate is one of the chief 

 causes which make it impossible for a horse to do 

 all his work unshod. "Water softens horn, and 

 causes it to become much too weak to stand fric- 

 tion ; but in the case of a colt the work it does (or 

 should do) during breaking is not of a sufficiently 

 arduous nature to be likely to do harm to the feet, 



