1 10 HORSES: 



is supposed to be protected by shoes, the varieties of 

 which are legion-; and thus the controversy has been 

 brought to a singular issue. On one side it is urged 

 that there should be a uniform system of paving 

 enforced on all towns, so that horses should no longer 

 pass from a less slippery road to one that is more slip- 

 pery; on the other the contention is that the true 

 remedy lies not in uniformity of paving, but in the 

 discovery of a shoe which shall effectually prevent 

 the horse from slipping anywhere. The former alter- 

 native is visionary ; the latter has been, and perhaps 

 it may be said, still is, the object aimed at by some 

 who have a thorough acquaintance with the structure 

 of the horse, and the most disinterested wish to pro- 

 mote his welfare. We may, therefore, . safely pay no 

 heed to the lamentations of those who believe that 

 " the difficulty in riding or driving through the Lon- 

 don streets arises from the variety of the pavements 

 in use," and that " if we had a uniform kind of pave- 

 ment, a shoe for universal use would be quickly 

 invented." We may please ourselves with fancying 

 that " the ingenuity of man would devise horseshoes 

 to travel over glass, were glass the only pavement in 

 use." The main question is, whether mankind after 

 all has not been forestalled in this invention ; and it 

 is absolutely certain that those who have labored 

 most conscientiously to improve the shoeing of horses, 

 have striven especially to secure for them the power 

 of moving safely over materials of many kinds. 

 These men have been convinced- that the traditional 

 methods overload the foot of the horse with iron, 



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