CUTTING THE HOOF. 79 



the outside ; by which means they get a slanting di- 

 rection outwards, and there will be no danger of the 

 foot being pricked. These nail-holes must be punch- 

 ed while the shoe is hot, or the iron, which is rarely 

 of the best quality, will split. Always see that the 

 nails fit the holes before you put the shoe on ; for if 

 the heads of the nails are not small enough to go into 

 the groove, or the groove not large enough to receive 

 them, they will be broken, and the shoe come off. 



A horse with straight pasterns, on -a very hollow 

 foot, may have it made a little thinner at the heel than 

 at the toe ; and if the foot is black, strong, and well 

 open, another nail may be put on the outer side for 

 hunting, &c. ; but, out 'of some hundreds of feet, I 

 have found the outside very nearly as often contract- 

 ed as the inside. The hind shoe has the nails rather 

 farther back, and the toe is a little squared. 



The weight of this shoe is about six ounces, and by 

 reducing the thickness a little it will weigh about five 

 ounces, which will be a proper training shoe. It must 

 not project the least beyond the heel, but be there 

 nicely rounded, or the hind foot in the gallop may 

 possibly come in contact with it, and the horse be 

 thrown, or the shoe wrenched off. The ground sur- 

 face of the toe of the hind shoe should also be filed a 

 little, to take off the edge, as a further precaution. 



CUTTING THE HOOF. 



The foot having been soaked in water to render it 

 soft, the sung-turash is to be used very sparingly not 

 at all for a flat foot ; for if too much of the bottom of 

 the crust is first taken off, there m ay not be sufficient 



