1^ 



FITTIIsG THE SHOE. 21 



of steel on to it, to make him longer in wearing it 

 away; but this only increases the jar to his foot, 

 w^hile turning up the toe makes the shoe last quite 

 as long, and saves the horse from a great deal of 

 unnecessary suffering. A strong foot will bear 

 the toe to be turned u|) a good deal; but a flat 

 foot is always weak at the toe, and will not bear 

 much. Still, the shoe should be turned up a little, 

 so as to clear the ground; the horse will travel 

 safer and better for it. 



You can make a very handy tool for turning 

 up the toe of a shoe by shutting a piece of iron, 

 five inches long and one inch broad, crosswise on 

 to each blade of a pair of smith's tongs; with 

 this tool you will be able to grasp both limbs of 

 the shoe at once, and not only turn up the toe 

 over the end of the anvil, but restore the seating 

 at the toe without bending the shoe or putting 

 it out of shape, which you could not do by hold- 

 ing one limb at a time in common tongs, without 

 a great deal of trouble. Plate III. shows you this 

 tool in use with the ground-surface of the shoe 



