in making shoes of various constructions, that liad tlie above property of 

 being- reniovable, tili my health became greatly iiijiired by the fatigue of 

 these labours, and I was at last obliged to abandon them for a less perfect 

 plan. In the course ot the above period, I made more tban forty, differ- 

 ently planned and contrived, and used many of them in a private way with 

 tolerable satisfaction, bnt did not think them on the whole fit objects for 

 general adoption with the pnblic, and laid them aside, as I have stated, 

 for a shoe of a less perfect kind, viz. a shoe nailed to the foot, thereföre 

 not removable, made of two parts, possessing motion with the foot, not 

 constraining it; this resoiirce, though not exactly what I wished, I preferred' 

 to the fatigue of exertions now become severely painful. I however 

 propose, in the course of this tract, to give engravings of some of thes6,' 

 that they may stand recorded; they may also serve as steps to future 

 enquirers in this line of pursuit, who, by availing thenlselves of them, 

 may arrive at superior excellence 



It occurred to nie, at a very early period of my labours on this object, 

 that a removable shoe of the above description, once fttted to the hoof, 

 might be rendered very durable, or even permanent, by having a secönd 

 shoe to receive the wear, screwed or rivetted beneath it: that the first 

 expence in making such a shoe would be almost all the expence that 

 would be required, and would be no object in a matter of such con- 

 sequence, as the saving from ruin the foot of so valuable an animal ; the 

 second shoe being renewed at pleasure, at per pound of iron or steel. 



I discovered also, another method of defending the foot upon quite a 

 different principle, which might be useful, iu some cases where excessive 

 labour was not required, or where about double or treble the work more 

 than the natural hoof would perform was required. For this purpose, 1 

 used a cap of steel hardened to the spring temper to defend the wearihg 

 line of the hoof, which extends from the toe or front parts of the foot to 

 the middle of the outside quarter of the hoof; this defence was fastened 

 by a brace and strap, and could be applied without nails, by a purchase 

 on the side of the hoof, and which, as I propose to describe farther on, I 

 shall not here enter into further particulars of. 



I have sometimes thought, that horses might- be usefully divided into 

 classes according to the nature of their work, and be defended accordingly. 

 Without extending farther these general reraarks, I will now advert to the 

 proper objects of this treatise, the consideration of the foot, and its 



