SHOEING. 



77 



the toe ; the older the better, if only strong ; and 

 wearing thin at the toe is no disadvantage.* 



If this shoe is properly made ; the crust that it rests 

 upon evenly rasped ; the sole properly pared ; and the 

 foot, during the intervals of shoeing, always kept 

 properly stopped and moist, you will most likely be 



able to avoid contraction : if you fail in any of these, 

 you will have contraction. 



* Some of the French shoes are bent up at the toes when first put on, in the 

 shape of men's wooden shoes ; but to be able to judge of the comparative 

 merits of different forms of shoes and nails, requires great study and great 

 practice. Whether you adopt that which I have recommended or not, keep 

 the heels open. In France, my horse's heels never contracted, and in Eng- 

 land they never contracted : in the former country they were generally shod 

 under the superintendence of a government veterinary surgeon, and in the 

 latter at the celebrated Mr. Turner's : neither in India have my horse's heels 

 ever contracted, and here they have always been shod with this kind of shoe. 



A pattern of the fore and hind shoe is lying at Dady's, in Bombay, which 

 will -show the groove, as also the form of the nail, and how the nail-holes are 

 to be punched ; and by which you will see if the nails are properly pointed ; 

 so that the Nolband will have some difficulty in pricking the horse, even if 

 he tries. 



