The Principles of Horse-Shoeing. 
133 
In a state of nature, and when not compelled to travel more 
or less continuously upon hard rugged ground, the horny case of 
the horse's foot is ample protection, and the growth of horn is 
sufficient — sometimes more than sufficient — to meet the demands 
of wear. With some breeds of horses the hoof-horn is naturally 
dense and tough, and the growth rapid. This characteristic is 
more especially noted in hot dry climates, with rocky or sandy 
ground, and in these the hoofs are long, narrow, and concave in 
the sole. In such countries horses can often perform a fair 
amount of work without any protection to their feet. In tem- 
perate and northern climates, however, where there is more or 
less moisture, and the ground is soft, horses' hoofs are more 
inclined to be expanded and the soles flat, while the horn itself 
has much less tenacity and density, and soon wears away when 
the animals travel considerable distances, especially on stony 
ground or artificial roads. 
In all climates, when horses have to toil continuously on hard 
ground, and particularly if it be broken and stony, some kind of 
provision has to be made against undue wear of the hoofs, and 
consequent lameness and inefficiency. In South Africa and 
some other parts of the world, a good amount of work can be per- 
formed by horses with unprotected feet ; but whenever the toil 
is severe, and the soil is hard and rugged, then the wear of horn 
is not compensated for by its growth, and the animals are soon 
footsore and lame, from the sensitive parts contained in the hoof 
becoming exposed and injured. 
Therefore it is that, in the most favoured countries in this 
respect, a protection of some kind has to be resorted to, if the 
powers of this most useful of all animals are to be regularly and 
completely utilised for the benefit of man. Horses are generally 
shod with iron shoes in the East ; and even where the soil is 
sandy, the Arabs avail themselves of this device ; and their 
farriers hold a high place in the social scale, because their 
services are so valuable in increasing the usefulness of the indis- 
pensable steed. In other countries where shoeing is not regu- 
larly resorted to — as in the Transvaal — this is not so much 
because there is little necessity for it, as because there are very 
few farriers. The Boers gladly avail themselves of the services 
of these artisans whenever they have the opportunity. In 
regions where our method of shoeing is unknown or cannot be 
practised, horses when footsore are either led, or turned adrift 
until their hoofs have grown sufficiently ; or these are covered 
with raw-hide sandals, or the soles are garnished with pieces of 
deer- or cow-horn. Until the campaign in North China in 
1860, the Japanese employed sandals made of rice-straw for 
their horses' feet. Though the hoofs of their diminutive horses 
