276 Our Noblest Friend, The Horse 



then the hind ; if not all the year round, then in 

 winter at least, when the barefooted horse goes so 

 safely, and the shod and sharpened is so dangerous 

 not only to himself but to other animals, and to all 

 persons who have to do with him. Do not simply 

 remove the shoes from a ten or twelve year old 

 horse, then use him doubly hard to prove that the 

 plan is wrong; and when you have burst his 

 quarters, worn ofif his feet, and wrecked him gen- 

 erally, lay it at the writer's door; but try it intelli- 

 gently, and with the idea that it is a good thing, 

 and therefore to be encouraged, if fair chance will 

 ensure it. 



We apply vastly expensive india-rubber pads to 

 the bottoms of our horses' feet nowadays, and they 

 are acknowledged to be the only perfect means to 

 prevent a horse's falling when travelling over slip- 

 pery pavement, asphalt, ice, snow, etc. ; and so they 

 are. Yet these effective pads are nothing but an 

 imitation of the healthy and normal surface of a 

 horse's hoof. Any horse will provide his own pads 

 if you will but give him a chance. 



