CHAPTER VIII. 



SHOBING. 



Examples : King Almont, Lilly Langtry, Lady Whitefoot and 



Elmonarch. 



, The most important and essential point to be looked 

 after and studied is the foot. It makes no difference how 

 good or how speedy a horse you have, if his feet is not right 

 he will not and cannot trot to any mark which will be a credit 

 to himself or his trainer. The foot is the foundation of the 

 horse and has to be properly shod to protect and keep it 

 good. I liave often heard it remarked by people that if some 

 particular way of shoeing was effectual in remedying some 

 defect of a bad foot, it also ought to be successful in protect- 

 ing and keeping in order a good or perfect foot. For instance, 

 a bar- shoe is a protection to the quarters if it is properly put 

 on, the bearing is on the frog which was designed by the con- 

 struction of the foot to protect the heel, as it is a cushion of 

 a spongy, elastic nature and very hard to injure. The heel 

 strikes the ground first when moving fast or slow, and the 

 greater the speed the harder the blow and concussion. In 

 every horse that has a healthy foot the frog is higher than the 

 quarters. This can be observed when they are in a state of 

 nature before they are shod. 



FoUqw out nature's laws in shoeing, see that the wall of 

 the foot is protected and let the frog take care of the sole. 

 There is many a trotter loaded down either with a heavy shoe 

 or toe weight to make them go square and stay on a trot, 

 when if they were properly shod, so as to protect the sole of 

 the foot, in many cases they would not need one-half of the 

 weight and wpuld go many seconds faster. Many horses get 

 the name of being quitters, when the facts are it is caused by 



