18 TIPS AND TOE-WEIGHTS. 



a stronger horn, and throw it out more rapidly, so that it will bear 

 the enormous wear and tear which its use on our macadamized road 

 entails upon this organ. This argument is supported by numberless 

 instances abroad, in which horses are used without shoes ; but it does 

 not follow that because they will bear the friction and blows inciden- 

 tal to one kind of surface, a different one will not lame them. Every 

 experiment which has been made in this country of working horses 

 unshod has turned out a failure, and in Lieutenant Perry's case the 

 mare on which he tried the plan became so sore that his commanding 

 officer interposed to prevent a further continuance of the trial. It can 

 only therefore be considered conclusive by those who are willing to 

 take the opinion of a Colonel of Engineers as o})posed to a subaltern 



officer which is the position in which tliis single experiment stands. 



Every horseman knows that without a gradual seasoning there is no 

 doubt about the foot being too weak to stand the wear of the road, 

 and therefore unless the trial is made under every advantage, it goes 

 for nothing ; and the mere fact that a horse, after losing a shoe, can 

 hardly be taken home without breaking his foot, proves nothing, be- 

 cause it may be alleged that the same animal, if left unshod, would 

 in course of time secrete a horn so tough and hard that it would be 

 capable of bearing any amount of friction. Judging from those cases 

 in which I have seen the plan partially tried, with tips instead 

 of full shoes, I believe' it. is impossible to make it succeed with high- 

 actioned horses on our roads during the summer seasons, for even 

 with that protection the heels and frog become very thin, and I am 

 satisfied that the toes, if unprotected, would wear or break away to the 

 quick in a very short time. Whether it is possible to work any horse, 

 possessing an average foot, with tips only, on our roads, I am by no 

 means prepared to say, but that some horses can do so I know from 

 positive experience. The heels wear thin, but do not become bruised, 

 and the horny matter of the ft'og is renewed as fast as it is required. 

 Undoubtedly the toes, when unshod, are much more exposed to injury 

 than the heels, especially in those horses whose action is inclined to make 

 that part touch the ground first, for there is a tendency to break as 

 well as wear away. It is also an admitted fact, that many thousands 

 of horses are annually lamed by the present system, and thei-efore I 



