2 NOTES ON SHOEING OF HORSES. 



tio?o7the ^' -^^^^ preservation of the crust, or outer wall 

 crust or of tlio foot, is the primary essential in good shoeing, 

 of tiie foot. All else is subsidiary to this, although many other 

 points are of great importance. 



Whether or not the reader may think proper to 

 adopt the particular form of shoes which will be 

 hereafter advocated, is comparatively immaterial. 

 The preservation of the foot is of equal importance, 

 whatever be the form of shoe adopted. 



Remunera- 3. The preservation of the crust, or outer wall of 



tion to far- ^ ■•• 



riers for the foot, iuvolves the mechanical difficulty of fitting 



good work- 

 manship, the shoe to the foot. 



The farrier will probably assent readily enough 

 to the principle that the shoe ought to be fitted 

 to the foot, and not the foot to the shoe; but it 

 is not easy to get him to carry out this principle in 

 his practice, because the proper and accurate fitting 

 of the shoe to the foot is a matter both of time and 

 trouble, especially to an indifferent workman. 



It will well repay any owner of horses to en- 

 courage good and accurate workmanship on the part 

 of his farrier by giving him some slight extra 

 remuneration for his extra trouble. 



When, however, a farrier has once acquired the 

 necessary skill, and has by a few months' care and 

 attention got sound firm crusts to deal with, he will 

 shoe his horses properly in as little time as other 

 men can shoe in the ordinary careless manner. 



