122 HORSES: 



them so great, that I resolved to try the experiment 

 Accordingly, when my pony's shoes were worn out, 

 had them removed, and gave him a month's rest a 

 grass, with an occasional drive of a mile or two 01 

 the high-road while his hoofs were hardening. Th 

 result at first seemed doubtful. The hoof was a thii 

 shell, and kept chipping away, until it had worn dowi 

 below the holes of the nails by which the shoes hai 

 been fastened. After this the hoof grew thick an< 

 hard, quite unlike what it had been before. I no^i 

 put the pony to full work, and he stands it well 

 He is more sure-footed, his tread is almost noiseless 

 and his hoofs know no danger from the rough hand 

 of the farrier, and the change altogether has been ; 

 clear gain, without anything to set off against it 

 The pony was between four and five years old, am 

 had been regularly shod up to the present year. Hi 

 now goes better without shoes than he ever did witl 

 them." 



A well-known Cumberland farmer, writing abou 

 the same time, speaks of a farm horse in his posses 

 sion, which, having been lamed by a nail driven inti 

 its foot, had been for many months in the hands o 

 the farrier. Tired out with this annoyance, the owne 

 had his shoes taken off and turned him out to pasture 

 While still rather lame, the horse was set to work o: 

 the land ; and he is now, we are .told, " doing all sort 

 of farm work, and dragging his load as well as an; 

 shod horse even over hard pavement." If judgmen 

 based on knowledge is to carry weight, the questioj 

 would soon be settled. We have already seen tb 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



