23 TIPS AND TOE-WEIGHTS. 



be the effect, and if the power coukl be applied so as to overcome the 

 attraction of gravitation, such a ball would describe a horizontal 

 cii-cle. 



As has ah-eady been shown, while weights on the feet increase the 

 speed, and establish the propensity to trot in preference to run or 

 pace, there is danger to the legs attending the use of it, and many 

 promising horses have been irrepai-ably injui'ed. The better acquaint- 

 ance with the weights has lessened the danger ; when first invented 

 it was held necessary to have a heavy shoe, to which they were added, 

 and now it is found that a lighter shoe does away with the necessity 

 of so much weight, and the same result follows. More than twenty 

 years ago I had a pair of weight-boots, which were made in Boston. 

 They were simply a quartei--boot, filled with lead ; they were actually 

 a detriment, from the weight being mostly on the wrong portion of 

 the foot, and after a horse wore them a few times he would be very 

 sore from the pounding on his quai'ters. This should have been fore- 

 seen by any one who gave the subject much thought, as it increased 

 the concussion, and, between the weight and the heavy, thick-heeled 

 shoe, the blow came from both above and below. 



That the present toe-weight does effect the purpose, while the 

 former was ineffectual, establishes that the location is all-important ; 

 and, furthermore, that it does not depend so much on the amount of 

 the weight as the balance being properly sustained. If a twelve- 

 ounce shoe and an eight-ounce toe-weight has the same effect as a 

 two-pound shoe and a pound-and-a-half weight, it is obvious that a 

 tip which only weighs six ounces will give the same equilibrium to a 

 four-ounce weight. The Avhole weight of the tip comes in the right 

 place, and adds to in place of lessening the advantages. 



The trouble was to fasten a toe-weight to a tip, and until I became 

 acquainted with the " Eureka " fastening I gave the whole of my 

 study to combine the weight in the tip by making it still heavier 

 than the cut shows. There were objections, which I will explain 

 hereafter. Before touching on this I will give some further illustra- 

 tions of the benefits arising from leaving the posterior portion of the 

 foot in its natural state. 



Mr. Miles, in his " Treatise on Horse-shoeing," writes : 



