100 HORSE-BREAiaNG. 



monia showed the fibres to be three times the 

 size of those in healthy horn. Enghsh racers 

 in Austraha are allowed seven pounds because 

 their feet are unable to withstand the hard 

 ground ; and, for the same reason, English 

 horses are useless for racing purposes in India. 

 Shoes are nailed to horses' feet for tlie very 

 reason that nature did not make them hard 

 enough to stand work on metal roads, therefore 

 why do people put stopping into their horses' 

 feet to make them softer, thus counteracting to 

 a certain extent the benefit derived from the 

 shoes ? Surely if people desire soft feet there 

 is rain enough in this country, puddles enough 

 on the roads, and surface water ad libitum on 

 the fields, to effect their purpose without resort- 

 ing to such a filthy, beastly thing as cowdung. 

 Horses' feet get so soaked with water during 

 their work or exercise, that the aim of every 

 horse owner should be to keep them as dry as 

 possible when in the stable, instead of doing 

 their best to make them rotten and diseased. 

 Horses in dry climates, such as India and 



