21 



of inflammation, our wonder may well cease, that the poor 

 animal should drop " as if he had been shot," for more 

 exquisite torture it is not possible to inflict upon him. 



Again if we take the weight of a horse at half a ton, and 

 that of his rider at eleven stone, and propel the combined 

 weights with the whole muscular power of the animal against 

 a firmly fixed stone, it would call for no great stretch of imagin- 

 ation to conceive, that the colUsion might sometimes fracture 

 so small a bone, as the navicular bone, and produce instant 

 and incurable lameness : these things do happen ; and it is 

 to obviate tliem and the intermediate train of smaller evils, 

 that I always employ a tolerably wide-webbed shoe, and 

 bring in the heels of it almost close to the frog, so as to reduce 

 the opening between the heels, as much as I conveniently 

 can ; and if in fitting the shoe, I observe a corner pressing 

 upon, or in any way interfei'ing with the frog, I cause it 

 to be cut off", rather than have the shoe opened out, to let 

 in tlie frog, for in opening out the shoe, a portion equal 

 to the offending corner must be thrust out beyond the hoof, 

 which is very objectionable, as forming a ledge for stiff" ground 

 to chng to, and pull the shoe off". This plan of bringuig 

 in the heels, while it covers and protects the angles, whence 

 the bars are reflected,'"' at the same time draws the sides 

 of the shoe nearer together, and opposes to the stony road 

 a surface of iron instead of the unprotected foot ; warding off" 

 thereby many a blow, that would otherwise prove highly 

 injurious. 



Tliere is a notion very generally entertained, that the foot 



* Plate 5, fig. 2. 



