€2 THE ART OF HORSE-SHOEING. 



I, therefore, recommend that when calkins are used, they 

 shoukl he h^w, square and broad. The further under a 

 foot the calkin is placed, the greater is the raising of the 

 heel, therefore calkins should always be accompanied by 

 a long shoe. The further back a calkin be placed, the 

 less it interferes with the natural position of the foot. 



Calkins render a horse liable to tread the opposite 

 foot, and the higher and sharper the calkin, the greater 

 the injury inflicted. To avoid this injury, the inner 

 heel of a shoe frequently has no calkin, but is made at 

 the same level as the outer by narrowing and raising the 

 iron at the heel, forming what is called a wedge heel. 

 This is not an advisable form of shoe, as it has on the 

 inner heel a skate shaped formation, most favorable to 

 slipping, and on the outer a catch — an arrangement 

 tending to twist the foot each time the catch takes hold 

 of the ground. If calkins are used at all, they should be 

 of equal height and on both heels of the shoe. 



In Scotland and in the North of England, heavy 

 horses are shod, fore and hind, not only with calkins, 

 but also with toe-pieces, and the owners assert that the 

 horses could not do the work Avithout them. That horses 

 do similar work in the South Avithoiit calkins and toe- 

 pieces rather shakes one's faith in the assertion, but it 

 must be remembered that nearly all paved streets in the 

 North have a division left between the rows of stones in 

 which the toe-jnece finds a firm resisting surface. I be- 

 lieve also that the average load drawn is greater in the 

 North than in the South. One thing in favor of toe- 

 pieces must be acknowledged — they, with the calkins, 

 restore the natural position of the foot and preserve the 

 level of the shoe. On the larger draught horses, the toe- 

 pieces permit a lighter shoe to be used, as the portion of 

 iron between heels and toe need not be thick to resist 

 wear. It only requires to be strong enough to support 

 weight, and much less iron is therefore used. 



The heavy dray horse of the North, shod with toe- 

 pieces and calkins, is never worked at a trot. In Lon- 

 don, all horses are trotted— a proceeding which reflects- 

 discredit upon the intelligence of the managers. 



