PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF SHOEING HORSES. 209 
the evil, had constructed by machinery his modification, with 
which I have nothing to do at present ; but had he been able 
to make shoes, of any form, at fourpence each, instead of eight- 
pence, he would have succeeded : but, confining himself to 
modification, he failed, and, I once heard him say, at the 
sacrifice of a greater sum than would now, in the present state 
of machinery, fully accomplish the object. Who will attempt 
any thing in the present state of, the trade ? — art it cannot be 
called. 
The next attempt was accidental, originating in Mr. Goodwin 
having pattern shoes cast by Mr. Dudley : but he w 7 ould not listen 
to the profession which applied to him for the shoes in ordinary 
use, and fullered. I thought at the time how it would end. Mr. 
Goodwin’s modifications began, and the panic of 1825-26 put 
an end to the use of cast shoes. I was sorry for Mr. Dudley, 
and wished he had not committed the same error as Mr. Moor- 
croft and others ; for I know, from practical experience, that 
the shoes might have been in use still. With the the forms of 
the ordinary shoes, the patent is nearly out ; and, if Mr. Dudley 
does not get a renewal, by application to Parliament, some one 
else will attempt its introduction again ; as a discovery , pro- 
bably, — we have so many of them now-a-days. The shoes must 
be those in ordinary use ; for I think it improbable to reconcile 
the conflicting opinions that exist on this subject in one shoe. 
I will attempt to explain this. 
The common shoes have a flat surface next the ground ; that 
next the hoof more or less concave, except at the heels, where 
they are flat, varying in substance, and oftener thicker at the heel 
than at the toe. The web is broader, according as the shoe is larger 
in size, and fullered in heavy shoes, sometimes counter-sunk nail 
holes, and nailed to the crust while the hoof is raised from the 
ground. There is no space between the hoof and shoe, and, to pre- 
vent the percussion which of necessity occurs from the weight of 
the horse upon the hoof when the shoe thus applied bears on the 
ground, the sole is pared, so as to allow of its descent. This 
acts as a spring, and the percussion is prevented in some degree. 
But percussion still happens opposite the heels and quarters, 
which cannot overcome the resistance opposed to the action of 
the hoof by the close application of the shoe. Now this is, we 
suppose, what is meant by “ Shoeing on the most approved 
Principles,” i. e. the practice approved by those who follow the 
trade of shoeing horses throughout the country. It was there- 
fore inferred, that the principles of shoeing were, that the crust 
only should bear on the shoe. 
Mr. Moorcroft recommended the sole to have a bearing on the 
vol. x, ue 
