18 TREATISE ON HORSE- SHOEING. 



the loss of a slioe; but if the shoe is of the 

 best possible shape and fitted to the foot iii' the 

 most perfect manner^ unless the nail-holes are 

 placed so that the foot can expand, it must in 

 the end become unsound. 



The portion of hoof that expands the most is 

 the inner quarter and heel. You must therefore 

 leave those parts free from nails; and the way 

 to do it is never to stamp more than two holes 

 on the inside of the shoe, one about an inch and 

 a quarter from the centre of the toe, and the other 

 about three-quarters of an inch bthind it. It is 

 quite clear that, if you nail both sides of a horse's 

 hoof to an iron shoe, the hoof will be held fast, 

 and cannot expand; and, when the horse's weight 

 forces the bones of the foot down into the hoof, 

 the tender lining of the hoof will be squeezed 

 against the shanks of the nails and cause pain 

 to the horse at every step he takes. The whole 

 number of nail-holes should never exceed five; 

 three on the outside, and two on the inside. I 

 have proved over and over again that five nails 



