HORSES. 



on the hoof is formed by nature to keep the water out on 

 damp ground, and to keep the hoof from drying up and 

 cracking on dry ground. Should the blacksmith rasp off this 

 varnish if it is the natural protection to keep the hoof sound ? 

 Great care must be taken in shoeing young horses while their 

 hoofs are growing larger. On sod, turf, or dirt, it would not 

 be necessary for a horse to be shod, as the hoof is hard, and 

 formed by nature for running over the natural soil and grass. 

 But we cause the horses to work on hard stone roads and 

 pavements, and therefore we fit them with shoes that are 

 harder than their natural hoofs. The hoof is of the same 

 material as our finger-nails we may 

 call the hoof a large, thick toe-nail. 

 The foot is the middle toe, the 

 other four having disappeared. We 

 can cut and pare the hoof and drive 

 nails into it, therefore, without caus- 

 ing any pain. If we cut the nail 

 too deeply, we come to a very 

 sensitive part of the finger. So with 

 the hoof; under it and within it is 

 a very sensitive part of the foot. It 

 we cut into it or drive nails into it, 

 we cause great pain to the horse, and 

 lameness and suffering follow. The 

 horse ' therefore, should always be 

 shod by a good farrier or shoer. 

 When you walk on your toes, or 

 in a pair of boots too high in the heel or too tight, you soon 

 tire out. If good shoes of proper form and weight are so 

 important to us in walking, the proper fitting of shoes of the 

 right weight and size is quite as important to the horse. This 

 is another reason for always having the work done by a good 

 workman. 





