196 SHOEING CAVALRY HORSES IN INDIA. 
But to give an example that these methods of shoeing are 
fully adequate to the exigencies of the service in India, we 
will suppose the very opposite (or English) practices to be 
attempted to be carried out by a young man, no matter from 
which veterinary school, or brought up in connexion with 
or without the practice of the English forge ; only suppose 
him to have arrived with a corps of regular native cavalry at 
the close of field exercise, the beginning of the hot season, 
when horses’ shoes are taken off, and many of the hoofs 
remain unpared. This young M.R.C.V.S. or not, with 
his brains chuck-full of English forge notions, would begin 
by having all the horses’ hoofs, as he would call it, well pared 
— the crusts lowered, the strong yet elastic thick soles made 
thin, concave, and pliable under the rule of thumb. The 
next day the regiment is ordered to march. 
Mr. A. Cherry, at p. 503, No. 21, in the Veterinarian for 
Sept., 1849, remarks — “It is important that the way to take off 
a shoe, pare out a foot, and put on a shoe should be known : 
for those destined for the army this should be carried much 
further , and should he insisted on as a sine qud non. (?) A regi- 
ment, or part of one, might be placed in such a position that 
the capability of its veterinary surgeon on this point might 
be the means of its safety or efficiency.” Well, his capa- 
bility would be put to the test, as he would have to shoe 
many of the horses himself, the native shoer not being prac- 
tised in driving nails so near the quick. While doing his best, 
he would complain of his inability to the troop officer, who 
would inform the commanding officer, who would send for 
Mr. Drawing-knife, who would begin the riddle about the 
advantages of descent of the sole and expansion of the heels, 
when he is cut short by the old officer telling him, perhaps 
coolly or otherwise, “ Sir, I will have no more of your 
London shoeing in my corps ; while you are in India you 
must do as we do or he might be sent for three months to 
learn under an older veterinary surgeon ; for, as Mr. Cherry 
writes on, “ it is too important a subject to be neglected: 
can he teach to others that he does not know himself?” 
Certainly not ; and this is the reason I have thus described 
the methods of shoeing cavalry in India, although I consider 
my pamphlet, published in 1 825 (now out of print), w ? as more 
ample instruction. The practice should be seen to be under- 
stood ; and it is easily acquired by any one who wishes it. 
I have endeavoured to show that the Asiatic method of 
applying shoes, either flat or slightly convexo-concave, in the 
French mode, instead of paring the sole to give a seated 
bearing of the crust only on the shoe, is founded in the 
