THE STABLE ANB ITS MANAGEMENT 229 



to have his shoes changed every three or four 

 weeks, and if the feet be not ruined by the farrier 

 or the fads of his groom or coachman then he is 

 lucky. Every man that has anything to do with 

 horses sooner or later develops notions as . to 

 horseshoeing, the blacksmith usually knowing 

 much less than any one else but confident that he 

 knows it all. He should know it all, as to shoe 

 horses is his business. As a matter of fact, how- 

 ever, his practice, if he be permitted to have his 

 own sweet will, is to lame horses and ruin their 

 feet. There are a few good horseshoers, however, 

 and if an owner find one in his neighborhood he 

 is lucky. I shall not attempt, however, to write a 

 treatise on horseshoeing. There are books in 

 abundance on the subject, and any man who 

 wishes to become an accomplished amateur on 

 the subject can find plenty to study and also an 

 abundance of instruction. But there are a few 

 principles that dominate all else. The shoe should 

 be neither too large nor too small. A large shoe 

 stretches the hoof too much, a small shoe pinches 

 the hoof and makes corns. Then do not permit 

 the blacksmith to pare the sole and frog of the 



