ARTISTIC HOKSE-SHOEING. 35 



CHAPTER IV. 



HORSE-SHOEIXG TO PREVENT OR CURE LAMENESS OR CORRECT 

 FAULTY ACTION. 



LEVELING PLATE. 



Every horse-shoer oug-ht to have a leveling* plate. I use 

 a piece of marble sa^^ twelve inches square and two inches 

 thick. After the shoe has been fitted to the foot I then heat 

 it. By gently hammering" it on the marble slab I make it 

 perfectly level. A great many heat the shoe hot and then 

 hy applying- it to the foot it is easj^ to see exactly which 

 portion of the hoof needs to come off. I never put a hot 

 shoe near the foot. After the shoe is made level on the 

 marble slab I then make the foot level to correspond. 



FORGING. 



This is a very bad habit. A horse thatforg-es continually 

 is not regarded as very valuable. It is not particularly 

 troublesome to overcome this habit. There are many dif- 

 ferent ideas on the subject, however. I have had horsemen 

 come into my shop and say to me, ''If you put the front 

 shoes on too long- the horse will pull them off." I know of 

 a good man3^ horses that I have ruined, before I learned any 

 better, by putting the shoes on too short. When too short 

 in the first place they become still shorter of course after llie 

 shoes are reset. Now does it look reasonable that we ought 



