GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 477 



less tlieir shoes last six or seven weeks, in which case they 

 should be removed once within the time ; but horses with 

 strong feet and plenty of horn, that wear their shoes a full 

 month, should have them removed at the end of the first fort- 

 night ; and when horses are doing so little work, or wear their 

 shoes so lightly that they last two months, they should be re- 

 moved every fortnight, and at the second removal the shoes 

 should be put in the fire and refitted, or the feet will outgrow 

 the shoes ; as the horn grows much quicker when a horse is idle 

 than it does when he is in full work. 



Having now gone carefully througli all the circumstances 

 necessary to good shoeing, and stated the reasons why certain 

 things should always be done, and certain other things ne^oer 

 done, I will repeat shortly the few things which are to he done 

 in the order in which they occur ; and you will find that they 

 are really very few when separated from the reasons and ex- 

 planations. 



Raise the clinches with the buffer. 



Have only one foot bare at a time. 



Pare out the foot ; but leave the frog alone. 



Cut off the heels of the shoe as I have directed. 



Open the nail holes straight through the shoe. 



Form a clip at the toe, and turn up the toe of the shoe. 



Fit the toe, then the quarters, and lastly the heels. 



Heat the shoe, and ai3ply it to the foot to see that it fits 

 properly. 



Cool the shoe, " back-hole " it, and file it up. 



Nail it on with five nails, coming out low in the crust. 



Hammer down the clinches without rasping them, and only 

 rasp the hoof heloio them. 



General Observations. — I have said that five nails are suf- 

 ficient to hold on a fore shoe at any kind of work, in any coun- 

 try and at any pace ; and T again advise you to employ that 

 number, placing three on the outside of the shoe and two on 

 the inside, because I know from experience that with the very 

 commonest care on the part of the smith they will hold a shoe 

 through any difficulty of ground or pace. But I am prepared 

 to prove that they are more than sufiicient for the purpose, and 

 to show that many smiths can and do keep on a fore shoe by 



