SHOEING. I 9 t 



that it cannot possibly rective any pressure 

 from a flat shoe. It may be said also, that 

 when the nails are placed so far from the 

 heels, the shoe will not be sufficiently secure, 

 and will be frequently loosened ; but as the 

 shoe bears equally on every part of the crust, 

 this objection cannot have any weight. It 

 must be granted, however, w4ien a foot 

 is pared in the common way, that is, when the 

 heels have been opened, and the shoe so ap- 

 plied, that nearly an inch of the heel has no 

 bearing upon the crust ; that, if the nails were 

 placed so far from the heels as I have recom- 

 mended, the shoe would be very insecure ; 

 for, as much of it as had no bearing upon the 

 crust would operate occasionally as a lever in 

 raising the nails ; and consequently the shoe 

 would frequently be loosened. Farriers there- 

 fore find it necessary, when the foot has been 

 thus pared, and the shoe applied in this w^ay, 

 to place the nails in the quarters, by which 

 the shoe is certainly rendered more secure 

 than it would be had they been placed nearer 

 the toe. 



Many disadvantages, however, attend this 

 method. In the first place, by placing the 

 nails in the quarters, they prove a c6nsiderable 



