THE HORSE 



127 



Let us look for a few moments at a very important part of a 

 horse's frame; namely, its hoof. Suppose that a horse is lifting 

 up one of its fore-feet for us, so that we can examine it easily. 



Clydesdale Horse 



The hoof looks like a piece of hard horn, which seems to cover 

 the whole sole of the foot. 



In a state of freedom, the horse has no iron shoes to protect 

 its hoofs, which in consequence are always being worn down by 

 friction against the hard ground. We might suppose that they 

 would soon be destroyed altogether, but they grow again just as 

 fast as they are rubbed away, and so are never much the worse 

 for wear. 



The hoof of a horse, in fact, is very much like our own finger- 



