70 THE ' horse's kefcue. 



constantlj sliding out and going back at every step 

 the horse took kept the structure of the foot in 

 motion, and it was badly changed from natural. It 

 did not remove the cause ; on the contrary, it irritated 

 it — made bad worse. The foot was always dry and 

 hard. I dropped that and went back to flat rest on 

 heel. That worked better. I rasped the foot in front 

 to weaken, so the heels would spread, and put a few 

 nails in the toe so as not to hold the heels. Still I 

 could gain but little, and often lost more than I gained. 

 Wet and dry weather worked against me, but that 

 power, the lever, was the worst. For years and years 

 I worked to try to save horses from getting stiff, and 

 still they came pouring in for relief. If they had never 

 seen a blacksmith or shoer, they would have been all 

 right, or nearly so ; but I did not know at that time 

 they were thrown in such a bad condition, as I after 

 many years found out by experimenting. 



It is five weeks since I shod Kit; let us finish her 

 off. I always shoe my horses all around at one time, 

 unless a shoe should get torn off by accident or other- 

 wise. This mare's foot has grown five weeks; the 

 lever on the toe has grown some. The heels were 

 too low when we shod her. Pare the toe now from 

 heel ; make new shoes this time, the same as the first, 

 only with thinner heels. The heel is higher on tlie 

 foot. Look up and down the horse's leg and calculate 

 how the work should be done to keep the strain off the 

 cords; place the foot back as far as she can, and heel 

 sit flat down on the floor, and not hurt her. If you 

 get the heel too high she cannot move well, and it will 

 tip her on knee and ankle. This principle works the 



