27 



without protection. Had tbe weather been fiue, and the roads diy, and 

 her hoofs Consolidated by a six years growth, she would have performed, 

 I believe, thls journey with ease; for the hoofs of horses appear to thicken 

 and enlarge to the eighth year, if unrestrained ; as do also the other parts 

 of the body furnish to this peiiod. I think I have also distinctly observed 

 a fact in respect to the horses foot that is worthy of particular notice; 

 that in the autumn of the tifth year of their age, a remarkable cast or 

 exfoliatiou of the hörn of the frog takes place, which is accompanied with 

 a change in its Constitution and character; for, after this period, it 

 becomes more contracted in its dimensions, harder, and more sharply 

 pointed, which change considerably adds to the beauty, and no doubt 

 also to the use of this part. The smiths, wlio miserably slice away the 

 hörn which defends this part, do as wisely, as one who should ciit 

 away the hörn of the balls of a dog's foot before his being taken to the 

 field to hunt. Indeed, the public but littleknow the extent of injury they 

 are suffering froni tliis cause, obstinately persevered in; and now, not so 

 much froni ignorance, as a perverseness, which merits severe reprehen^ 

 sion, or rather deserves a public act, to forbid it. Stahle servants also have 

 a notion, taught them originally by the smiths, that the hörn of this part 

 should be scalped away, and insist on its being " well cut out," thus stepping 

 out of their proper province to do mischief ; for it is their's to feed and 

 clean the horse and look after the stable, but not to interfere in the smith's 

 department, in a matter of such moment. Masters, again, in fear of these 

 men, are often not really masters of their own stable, and dare not 

 oppose them ; and he who offends the man is also almost sure to offend and 

 lose the business of the master, that it is tender interfering, for those who 

 depend on this business for a livelihood, or wish to be honest in teUing 

 them their true interests. 



From the above, and other experiments which I have made with the 

 natural foot, I should be of opinion, that a considerable number of horses, 

 whose exercise is hardly more than what is necessary to their health, or 

 that of their possessor, especially where the roads are sandy, or the green- 

 sward presents abundantly, niight go without being shod, J^nd escape 

 thereby the various complexity of mischief which this art entails. To 

 those who may be desirous of employing the foot in this natural state, I 

 might just say, that there can be nothing more simple and easy to manage; 

 for by wear it is soon rounded at the edges, and forms in front an obtuse 



H 



