22 TIPS AND TOE-WEIGHTS. 



cap a fleet dog to the level of a slower, and a few ounces in this 

 collar has a great effect. 



To return to the difference between shoes and plates on a race- 

 liorse, and the effect of the latter in increasing the speed : it is mani- 

 fest that it is not the trifling difference in weight which causes it. 

 It is generally supposed that the plate induces lower knee-action, and 

 that increases the speed. Were that the case, those horses which 

 have the least knee-action would be the fastest, which does not follow ; 

 but the thin strip of iron more readily springs with the foot, and 

 Avith the diminished thickness permits the frog and sole to come to 

 the ground and moderate the jar. This gives something of the free- 

 dom of the spreading foot of the greyhound ; the horse lengthens his 

 stride, and " gathering " more rapidly, the action is better. 



But there is a drawback to the plates, and that is the greater liabil- 

 ity for the foot to become sore from the pressure of the narrow iron on 

 the wall, and bringing the whole force of the concussion on the pai't 

 that is the most sensitive. Trainers and jockeys talk about the hard 

 track " burning " the horse's feet, when they notice the shortening of 

 the stride and the endeavor to relieve them by " changing feet," 

 when the injury comes from the still harder iron. Though a hard 

 track might bruise the heels, it is evident the broader surface would 

 afford some relief Tips leave the natural guards intact, without the 

 evils which follow pressure on the heels. It is evident that the pro- 

 longation of so light and narrow a piece of iron as a racing-plate can- 

 not afford any protection. Some of them, weigh as little as one 

 ounce, and those weighing four ounces are very heavy. This thin 

 band of metal is somewhat analagous to a foreign substance between 

 the heel and shoe in the human foot ; and we all are aware of the 

 inconvenience a very small thing will be in such a case. 



The race-horse strides from 18 to 26 feet, and the fastest in a 

 "brush" go at the rate of a mile inside of one huncbed seconds. 

 The weight of horse and rider will be over one thousand pounds, two- 

 thirds of this being borne by the fore legs. The velocity and the 

 weight combined make the jar tremendous, and frequently the heel 

 of the plate is torn from its fastenings and injures the leg. Several 

 race-hoi'ses have been ruined in this manner — the most notable, per- 



