the momeBt that the groom and the smith find him becoming 

 practically acquainted "with the subject, they will both follow 

 his lead. There are very few of either class, who are not 

 anxious and willmg to receive instruction, when tliey are 

 once assured of the competency of their instructor ; but they 

 cannot be expected to relinquish long cherished notions at 

 the bidding of every one, who chooses to say to them, 

 "you are wrong in this, or in that," without being able 

 satisfactorily to explain his objection, or demonstrate the 

 superiority of the plan, which he pro2Doses to substitute. 

 Many persons will no doubt be inclined to ask, what it is, 

 that I require them to do ; whether I really mean, that 

 it is incumbent uj^on them to make themselves proficients 

 in the anatomy and j^liysiology of the horse's foot in all 

 its varied details ; I answer, certainly not ; it is a dry and 

 difficult study, possessing few charms for the general reader, 

 and ill suited to the taste of the majority of horse-masters ; 

 nevertheless a knowledge of the mere outline of it, such as 

 I have sketched in the beginning of the book, would amply 

 repay the trouble of learning ; but even this, superficial as 

 it is, is by no means essential to a very perfect and j^ractical 

 acquaintance with the principle, upon which every horse ought 

 to be shod. 



Where there is no previous knowledge to start from, 

 something mtist always be taken upon trust : the case 

 before us fortunately demands but a small exercise of blind 

 faith in other men's conclusions ; it only calls for the con- 

 cession of two self-evident points ; first, that natvire knows 

 better, than the smith does, what is the best shape for the 



