GOOD AND EVEN FEET. 225 



and make him fly. His feet have to sustain him, 

 and any additional weight he may have to carry. 

 If, therefore, he cannot carry himself, it is hardly to 

 be expected that he can cany anything else. 



One of the first lessons I ever received in the 

 selection of horses was given me by one of the 

 best judges I have ever known. His advice to me 

 was as follows, viz. : Let your inspection begin at 

 the feet. If they are not good, and are not exactly 

 the same shape and size (the forefeet, of course), 

 have nothing whatever to do with the horse. Make 

 any excuse you like, but make up your mind not to 

 buy him, and, if you can, turn resolutely away from 

 him. No advice could have been better. It was a 

 beginning 1 at the right end — the beginning" itself. 

 The feet of a horse are naturally exactly alike, and 

 invariably so. If there is the slightest difference in 

 their shape, it may be at once assumed, no matter 

 how much you may be assured to the contrary, 

 that that horse has been lame either in the foot, 

 leg, or shoulder at some time or other, and probably 

 lame for some long time. According- as the 

 difference is little or great, and from disuse, the 

 structure of the foot has become more or less 

 altered. Now, before entering any further upon 

 the subject of shoeing, it will be well for us to 

 briefly consider what a horse's foot really is like. 



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