30 ESSAYS ON HORSE SUBJECTS 



knife, but have been allowed to remain, as nature 

 intended them, of their normal thickness. 



Just here it may be remarked that the practice 

 of paring away the sole of the foot, or in other 

 words, thinning it, is a pernicious one. 



The shoer appears to like to do this, as it cuts 

 very easily and gives, as he thinks, a "neat" ap- 

 pearance to the hoof. The owner appears to en- 

 dorse this, as he is very careful to have his groom 

 stop the feet, forgetting that he has permitted 

 the shoer to remove a much more efficient stop- 

 ping than any artificial one in the outer surface 

 of the sole. This is very easy of explanation and 

 illustration if one takes an unmutilated hoof. 

 First of all it must be noted that the outer hard 

 and tough crust, called the wall, grows out in- 

 definitely, unless it is worn or broken off by con- 

 tact with the ground or reduced by the instru- 

 ments of the former. This is not the case with 

 the sole, for it is so constituted that after it at- 

 tains a certain thickness, by a process of nature 

 it exfoliates of its own accord, thus maintaining 

 its normal thickness. These outer scales that 

 keep coming off are nature's stopping. Why? 

 Because by protecting the inner and deeper layer 

 from the drying effects of the air, they maintain 

 moisture that is necessary in the sole. If, by 

 paring, you cut through and examine a normal 

 sole, you will find that the part next to the quick 



