292 HANDBOOK OF THE TUEF. 



Web of a Shoe. The main bar or body of the horse- 

 shoe ; the entire rim ; that part which rests upon, or is fitted to 

 the wall of the foot. 



"W eeding-out Sale. A sale in which the breeder, wish- 

 ing to dispose of a part of his stud, weeds out animals that are 

 good and sound, but which, for one reason or another he does 

 not wish to breed from, and places them at a public sale. 



"Weights. By the rules of the New York Trotting Club, 

 in 1841, every trotting horse that started in a race, whether 

 match, purse or stake, was obliged to carry 145 pounds, the 

 weight of the vehicle not to be considered. In 1844 the rules 

 of the New York Jockey Club were : Two years old, a feather ; 

 three years old, 90 pounds; fom- years old, 104 pounds; five 

 years old, 114 pounds; six years old, 121 pounds; seven years 

 and upwards, 126 pounds. An allowance of three pounds was 

 made to mares, fillies and geldings. By the present rules of 

 the Turf Congress, a feather weight is 75 pounds ; and in all 

 races, except steeplechases, the limit may be said to be 130 

 pounds. But in all races exclusively for two-year olds, the 

 weight is 118 pounds; and in races exclusively for three-year 

 olds, the weight is 122 pounds. In trotting races — National 

 and American rules — to wagon or in harness, the weight is 

 150 pounds; and under saddle, (the saddle and whip only, to 

 be weighed with the rider), 145 pounds. 



Weig"hts. Extra attachments to the shoe or foot of the 

 horse to correct the action, balance the gait, or overcome 

 structural defects of motion. Weights are fastened to the toe 

 and also to the sides of the hoof ; while more frequently the 

 extra weight required is wrought into the web of the shoe in 

 the particular place where it is needed, so that the shoe 

 becomes the extra weight. These weights vary from two to 

 eight ounces, and frequently are as heavy as twelve ounces. 



Weight-hearers. The fore legs of the horse as distin- 

 guished from the propellers, or hind legs. Dr. William Fearn- 

 ley, a celebrated English veterinarian, was the first to class the 

 fore legs as the Weight bearers, and the hind legs as the pro- 

 pellers. He fixed the coffin-joint as the focus of weight in the 

 foot, and decided that if the foot be either too high or too low 

 at the heel, or if the proper angle of the ground surface with 

 the line of the coronet be changed, the focus of weight will be 

 disturbed, (or in other words will be thrown too far backward 

 or forward), hence the importance of Jfceeping the foot properly 

 leveled was apparent. Mr. Marvin says he is not entirely sure 

 whether in the trotting horse the fore leg has strictly no other 



