10 TIPS AND TOE-WEIGHTS. 



men of the time. He expected to overcome the difficulty by 

 placing three nails on the outside of the foot, and two on the inside, 

 near the toe. He- also claimed that "The portioii of the hoof that 

 expands the most is the inner quarter and heel." The horn on the 

 inner quarter is slightly thinner tlian on the outside, but there is a 

 greater concussion on the outside, which makes the thicker horn give 

 more. But it is recently that the expansion of the foot has been 

 considered unnecessary, and that only by a few. 



The cuts show as conclusively as that twice two are four, that 

 there are natural provisions for expansion, and as the " good mother " 

 is usually correct in her doings, we will accept it as the proper thing 

 to follow. " Contraction " is claimed by many to be the result of 

 disease ; others contend that contraction produces disease of the foot. 

 It is immatei'ial which is correct so far as regards the consideration 

 of the evils of the present system of shoeing, as the fact of it being 

 apparent in nearly every horse which has been shod for a series of 

 years is sufficient to warn us that something must be done to counter- 

 act this tendency. 



•Mr. Miles was not alone in advising that the nailing should be con- 

 fined to the anterior of the foot, Mr. Coleman, Professor of the Royal 

 Veterinary College, having preceded him in this recommendation. 

 He taught in liis lectures to the students, " that, for a good natural 

 foot, all that is required by way of a shoe is to guard the crust b}'^ 

 a small and narrow piece of iron, which should be attached princi- 

 pally at the toe." Mr. Bracey Clark, one of the foremost writers on 

 the pathology of the horse's foot, noted the effect of shoeing was 

 usually to contract the foot, and his instructions were to leave the 

 sole, bars and frog in the natural state ; and having seen ill effects 

 follow the non-nailing at the heels, from sand getting between the 

 shoe and foot, and more concussion, he nailed back to the posterior 

 extremity. It is useless to multiply the evidence of those who join 

 in denouncing the ordinary system of shoeing, and who have proven 

 the injuries which have followed. It would be far beyond the limits 

 of this essay to note the various o})inions which have been given, 

 and to record the acrimonious debates between partisans of the dif- 

 ferent schools. Treatment as opposite as the antipodes has been au- 



