SHOEING COLTS. 61 



taken to the shop; we all know what the. orders 

 will be, do not take a thing off his feet, and apply 

 a still heavier — ^and naturally thicker — shoe in an 

 effort to improve the action. In this manner the 

 frog and sole are still further elevated from the 

 ground which nature intended it should come in 

 contact with at every step. After this change, we 

 have, following in rapid succession, the dropping 

 in of the quarters, contraction of the feet, fol- 

 lowed by corns and quarter cracks, and, also, the 

 foundation is laid for that dreaded of all foot 

 troubles, navicular disease. When the hard, atro- 

 phied frog comes in contact with a. stone or a, rock, 

 and the sensitive structures that it is supposed to 

 protect, with its rubber-like elasticity, are bruised, 

 then there will loom up in the near future, a 

 bloodshot sole, a bruised tendon or navicular 

 disease. 



A Natural Dressed Foot. 

 When the foot is, dressed in the proper manner, 

 and, after it is shod, receives the proper attention 

 and care — it is just as essential, or more so, to keep 

 the feet of a colt soft and pliable^ as it is to be- 

 stow that care on a race horse — it will be found 

 that not one-half of the weight usually applied is 

 necessary to balance a colt. Now this may seem a 

 broad statement to make, but it is a fact, as I have 

 discovered during twenty years' work with light 

 harness horses, and considerable of that time was 

 spent shoeing colts and taking care of their feet, 



