SHOEING. 



ground surface so bevelled off that it will not harbor stones and 

 dirt, and be so stiff that it will not bend. 



If the horse is expected to be driven only occasionally, as for 

 family use, and upon common dirt roads, the wear will be but 

 little, and the shoes should be correspondingly light ; but if much 

 travel is required on stony or macadamized roads, the weight 

 should be sufficient to sustain such wear. The addition of a small 

 bit of steel, hammered well into the toe, and tempered, would add 



FIG. 473. Badly fitted. Foot FIG. 474. The same not cut 



trimmed too much. Outer away enough. The shoe, 



edge of wall only, resting though properly fitted, 



upon the shoe, which is is too thick, 

 made concave. 



greatly to its durability. It would be much better to make them 

 wholly of steel, as they would be very much lighter, equally stiff, 

 and less liable to bend. An objection to steel is, especially in 

 cities where there are paved streets, that there will be more 

 tendency to slip, than by the use of shoes made of iron. (See cuts 

 for light-driving shoes.) 



In a condition of health, from the light family driver to the 

 heavy draught horse, the principle of shoeing is the same ; the size, 

 thickness, and weight only differing so as to adapt to each case, 

 with the difference that when exceptional power is necessary, as 

 for draft horses, or to prevent slipping, calkins must be used. As 

 a rule, nothing more is wanting, unless necessary for extra wear, 

 than just iron enough to protect the outer crust of the foot, and 



