The Sti'udui'e of the horse's Foot mid Principles of Shoeing. G59 
which is to be given on the pi'actice of the farrier's art may bo 
put into very few words. 
To begin with, all efforts at neatness of finish by the aid of 
rasp and oil-brush to the wall of the hoof should be at once dis- 
couraged. The sole, bars, and frog, dirty, ragged, and scaly as 
they will be when the horse comes to be shod, should be left alone. 
By the use of the rasp the crust may be lowered as much as 
in the judgment of the farrier is required, and the front of the 
foot will always have to be rasped more than the quarters or 
lieels. The skill of the smitli is shown in his ability to keep a 
perfectly level base, so that the horse standing on the unshod 
foot has a natural position. No doubt can be felt as to the truth 
of the maxim that the shoe should fit the foot so that no after 
rasping is wanted. Fitting the shoe without applying it hot to 
the crust is easy to a good workman, but no great harm is done 
if the hot iron should be kept in contact with the horn for a few 
seconds. The farrier who is forced to adopt the device cannot, 
however, claim to be a master of his art. 
Nails should be driven so as to take a short and wide hold 
of the crust, and if the shoe can be secured by three nails on the 
outside quarter, and two on the inside, the work is well done ; 
every additional nail diiven into the foot, especially the forefoot, 
demands some sort of apology, or at least explanation. 
A concave ground surface for the shoe gives a far better hold 
than a flat one, and if with that arrangement the frog is in full 
contact with the ground, it will be possible to do without calkins 
for the hind shoes of all horses which are not required for 
heavy draught-work in hilly districts. 
Before, however, the present system of shoeing can be altered 
to conform to the rules laid down in this paper, the horseman 
and his servants, rather than the farrier, must be taught. At 
the present time no shoeing-smith dare send home a horse shod 
in the way which is known to be the right one, because the 
master of the animal and his men would denounce the work as 
crude and unfinished, and solemnly promise never to choose the 
same workman again. 
If a few final words are necessary, they must take the form 
of a protest on the part of the writer that there is nothing in 
the foregoing remarks on the horse's foot and the principles and 
practice of shoeing which has not been said and written over 
and over again by competent persons : nothing, indeed, which is 
not well known to all veterinary authorities and to many of the 
best practitioners of the art of shoeing. But the awkward 
thing is that between knowing how to do, and doing, there is a 
gap to fill up which takes a long time. 
vv 2 
