310 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 
time. This kind of stuffing is clean, easy to apply, 
and effectual except in extreme cases. When the 
foot is very dry, I do not find that it answers the pur. 
pose. Some authorities, moreover, maintain, and I 
believe rightly, that oil should never be applied to a 
hoof, because it renders the horn brittle, and impairs 
its quality. This is the opinion of Charles Marvin, 
the well known California trainer, whose intelligence 
and great experience with horses give weight to the 
assertion. Mr. George Fleming, also, whose prize 
essay, “Practical Horseshoeing,” is the best work 
on its subject that 1 have ever seen, holds the same 
view. 
Another method of “stopping,” and a very good 
one, is to put a wet sponge or a handful of moss in 
the hoof, keeping it in: place by a small stick, or, 
better yet, by a thin piece of steel, stretched across 
the foot, and inserted under the rim of the shoe. 
Finally, felt pads can be bought for seventy-five cents 
a pair, which are secured to the foot by means of an 
iron toe-piece and a strap and buckle. Thrown into 
a pail of water, these pads will in a few minutes ab- 
sorb moisture enough to last all night; and they are 
convenient to use on a journey. After a very long 
drive, especially in summer, the horse’s fore feet 
should be stopped as a matter of course. 
Where shoeing has to be done frequently, as in the 
case of fire horses, itis unportant that the hoof should 
grow fast, in order to supply the necessary waste of 
horn. Some horses also, as the result of disease, of 
bad shoeing, or of bad formation, have a deficiency 
of hoof. In such cases it iscommon to apply oil to 
the hoof; but, as I have stated already, many good 
