OF SHOEING. 
387 
confinement in a stable, will sometimes keep moving their 
head, neck, and body to and iro, like the motion of a 
weaver’s shuttle : these have been called weavers. Such 
horses seldom or never carry much flesh, from their fretful 
temper and incessant movement. The only preventive is to 
tie the head close up, except when feeding. 
TRIPPING. 
Innumerable attempts have been made to cure this dan¬ 
gerous quality in a horse, but few indeed have been the 
cures. It is only a waste of time to enumerate these. The 
true remedy is to get quit of the horse. 
CHAPTER XVI. 
OF SHOEING. 
A fine horse without sound feet may be compared to an 
elegant building without a firm foundation—both are in 
constant danger of falling. 
It is not known when the practice of shoeing horses with 
iron was first practised, although it is certain that William 
the Conqueror introduced it into Britain. 
We shall not dwell upon the methods which were prac¬ 
tised to preserve the hoofs of horses before the invention of 
iron shoes, but proceed to consider the best methods now 
adopted. The construction of our roads and streets render 
shoeing indispensable ; at the same time it must be obvious 
that shoeing with iron, and nailing them to the hoofs, is 
productive of very serious mischief, and is the cause of 
