NAILING ON THE SHOE. 



471 



jou will expose the horn to the air, and it \^-ill soon become dry 

 and brittle, and make the hoof difficult to shoe. This thin cov- 

 ering of the hoof is 



like the shining cov- ^^^ure lo. 



ering of a man's fin- 

 ger-nail ; and most 

 people know from 

 experience how dry 

 and brittle and easily 

 broken a finger-nail 

 becomes when by 

 any accident it lose 

 that covering. 



The cuts, here 

 with, Figs. 10 and 

 11, represent the 

 ground surface of a 

 near fore foot with 

 the shoe nailed on by 

 five nails. Fig. 10 

 shows the shoe in its 

 place on the foot, and Fig. 11 represents the same shoe made 

 transparent, so that the parts of the foot that are covered by it 

 are seen through it. A shows the crust, B the bars, and C the 

 heels of the hoof supported by the shoe. I have invariably 

 found that corns disappear altogether from a horse's foot after 

 it has been shod two or three times in this manner, and that 

 they never return while the same method of shoeing is con- 

 tinued. 



Shoeing ^th Leathee.— Many tender-footed horses travel 

 best with a covering over the sole, and leather is commonly 

 used for the purpose ; but I think gutta percha a quarter of an 

 inch thick, or waterproof felt of tlie same thickness, answer 

 better, because they both resist wet and do not alter their shape 

 as leather does. When leather is wetted it becomes soft, and 

 heavy, and yielding; but in drying again it contracts and hard- 

 ens, causing a frequent change of pressure on the frog, which 

 does not happen with either of the other tAvo substances. I 

 have used felt for the last three or four years, and prefer it very 



