LAMENESS, FROM VARIOUS CAUSES. 345 



and form of the foot. Contraction is almost always, in its first 

 stage, accompanied by lameness. Faulty shoeing is said to have 

 considerable to do in the production of contracted feet; yet there 

 are plenty of horses, having strong, thick, walled hoofs, very wide 

 at the heels, often shod in the worst possible manner, and their 

 heels never contract. It is certain, therefore, that a predisposition 

 to contraction lurko in some breeds of horses, which is shown by 

 their having weak quarters and a thin, shelly hoof. A contracted 

 hoof, which is very thin at the heels, may not occasion lameness, 

 because it is more elastic than the thick, walled hoof, and gives to 

 the lateral pressure of the foot when it comes to the ground. 



Percivall contends that "shoeing must be regarded as the 

 main cause, indirect though it be, of contraction ; and to the modifi- 

 cation or correction of it must we look for the prophylactic. Shoe- 

 ing, as it respects horses, has been said to be ' a necessary evil.' 

 Without shoes, upon our artificial roads, we can not make use of 

 horses ; and no shoes have been found to answer save such as are 

 hard and inflexible or metallic, and as are fixed to the hoofs with 

 nails. Here, therefore, we find ourselves in an awkward dilemma. 

 We can not do without horseshoes; and from the moment we nail 

 them to the hoofs, the feet begin to undergo more or less alteration 

 in form, and, in too many instances, to experience harm from their 

 application. The art of shoeing has given rise to a wonderful deal 

 of difference of opinion and controversy, some thinking one shape 

 of shoe answered best, some another ; while some prefer one mode 

 of nailing it upon the hoof, others a different one. As far as my 

 own experience has served as a guide to me through this labyrinth 

 of opinion, I have ever found that method of shoeing the prefera- 

 ble one which approached the nearest to Nature, or, in other words, 

 which interfered the least with the economy of the foot. If we 

 could do without them, horseshoes would, undoubtedly, be best 

 abolished altogether ; but, since this is impracticable, let us adopt 

 such shoes and modes of attaching them to the hoofs as are found 

 to work the least mischief to the feet. On this principle it is that 

 a half shoe is to be preferred to a whole shoe, and for the same 

 reason it is that tips, of all the horseshoes that were ever invented, 

 are the best ; that is, the least objectionable. If those in the pro- 

 fession would come forward and inform us of their experience 

 (if they have had any) of tip-shoeing, I believe it would uni- 

 formly be found that, whatever objection might be urged against 



