ON SHOEING. 55 



sole is concave and recessed, and the proposed shoe 

 is no wider than the crust and adjoining interlaced 

 structure. 



There are many reasons for and advantages in 

 reversing the ordinary practice. The unshod foot 

 naturally presents a concave surface to the ground ; 

 and it cannot be wrong thus to follow nature. 

 Again, a concave ground surface of the shoe must 

 render a horse less liable to slip, an object of some 

 importance at certain seasons of the year. Again, 

 shoes flat towards the sole get a bearing, not merely 

 on a part of, but on the whole of the weight- 

 bearing structure, and they are, therefore, less hable 

 to sink into it ; and, lastly, the fact that no dirt can 

 lodge between the shoe and the sole is of no Httle 

 importance. 



While there is no need of a shoe concave towards 

 the sole, there are serious objections to it. Shoes 

 concave toward the sole have their bearing only on 

 the outer edge of the crust, instead of on the whole 

 crust, which, as has been explained above, is but a 

 narrow surface for supporting the great weight of 

 the horse. Again, dirt and gravel are apt to lodge 

 in the space between the foot and the shoe ; and, 

 furthermore, in deep ground this portion of the shoe 

 affords the ground a handle, as it were, by which 

 to pull it off. 



When shoes flat towards the sole are used^ proper 

 attention must be paid to the preservation of the 



