No. 9 



To prevent knee knock- 

 ing, accidentally or other- 

 wise. 



I tumbled to the idea of making this shoe partly from 

 the way it was worn and partly from what the driver, Mr. 

 Cooper, told me. Around the outside toe the shoe is 

 worked down to a knife edge. The object of this is to give 

 the pacing horse a firm foothold, at the same time it does 

 not interfere with the horse's flexing, because the sharp part 

 cuts in. You see the horse that strikes his ankles or his 

 knees most generally breaks at the outside toe and at no time 

 should we try to do things that interferes with the freedom 

 of his movements as that is against speed. 



In Iowa and neighboring states it became known as the 

 "Major Dent" Shoe, as it was that horse that got the first 

 shoe of this kind that I had ever made or seen and the horse 

 raced successfully for two or three years after. It is simple 

 in its construction, only it requires a little extra time to 

 make it, like all special shoes do to do the work, they must 

 be just so. You remember I have said that a shoe on a 

 horse's foot is an instrument of either good or ill and for 

 speed it depends more on the shape of a shoe than the 

 weight of it. Now I do not know whether you care to 

 know anything more about this shoe or not, but I am sure 



72 



