134 HORSES: 



remedied the matter. It was all right and to be ex- 

 pected — of course, and perhaps necessary (?). 



I began to read and found little to the point, but 

 stopped the paring of the frog absolutely. Then I 

 became acquainted in a business way with Mr. Good- 

 enough, the inyentor of the form of shoe which bears 

 his name. We reasoned together, and /learned some- 

 thing. I began to use Goodenough's shoes put on 

 cold, and found it difficult to get smiths to put them 

 on well. This led me to the conclusion that I could 

 drive a nail as well as a blacksmith's apprentice ; so I 

 soon became the possessor of a " draw knife," a rasp, 

 a pair of pincers, and a good horseshoeing hammer. 

 These, with the tools about the barn and house and a 

 few sets of Goodenough shoes, were my stock in 

 trade, and with my man's help I shod my horses for 

 a full year. On one horse a single set of steel winter 

 shoes wore, with only two resettings, from January 

 to August, nearly eight months. They wore very 

 evenly and thin, and finally one broke in two, and I 

 pulled them all off. The hoofs were trimmed, and 

 though unshod for a while, did not break much. 

 After about two weeks we thought the fore feet 

 showed a little tenderness, and they were shod. The 

 hind feet wore well, and were in splendid shape. The 

 other horse had his hind shoes removed, and this 

 cured the thrush which was in them, and before 

 winter he had a new pair of frogs — sound and large. 



After this experience, every spring for some years 

 I pulled off the shoes all round, kept the feet trimmed, 

 and let them wear into good shape, and as soon as 



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