242 THROUGH STABLE AND SADDLE-ROOM. 



supposing the wrong. The right way is not to 

 alter the shoe, but to lower the foot more on one 

 side than the other, and thus the required level is 

 obtained. Such lowering must be, however, but 

 slight and carefully done. 



The use of tips is often recommended. They 

 are nothing but very short shoes. A horse cannot 

 work long on them on hard ground ; the heels get 

 worn and sore, as they wear sooner than the iron, 

 and, as may be supposed, there is then undue strain 

 placed on the tendons at the back of the leg. The 

 ends of the tips, moreover, sink into the foot and 

 cause corns, etc. 



It is the custom in frosty weather to have the 

 shoes roughed or turned up. This consists in the 

 heels being turned so as to present the ends of the 

 shoes to the ground, and so prevent slipping. 

 Nothing else seems to quite answer the purpose, 

 yet this system is far from being a satisfactory one, 

 inasmuch as the shoes are thus too short, and the 

 heels being unduly raised, the proper position of the 

 foot is altered, and if used for any length of time 

 corns and enlarged joints are the result. 



There is a very good description of foot-pad 

 made of indiarubber, and which is constructed so as 

 to be readily fitted to the foot of a horse without 

 removing the shoe, and it is as easily taken off 



