REPLY TO MR. RAZING ON ONE-SIDED NAILING. 437 
Mr. Bazing calls upon me to state the effects produced by the 
unfettered system. Now, with respect to my own mare, I can 
only say, that she had good feet when the shoes were first ap¬ 
plied ; and although her dam had for years notoriously con¬ 
tracted feet, and was kept for breeding in consequence of her 
lameness, yet she still possesses as perfect a foot as I have ever 
seen a half-bred mare possess at six years old. But Mr. Bazing 
will say this is inconclusive—this proves nothing ; if it does not, 
I think the following case will. A chesnut high-bred horse, seven 
years old, had both fore feet exceedingly contracted, was very 
lame, and was affected, as I considered, with the navicular joint 
disease, as he was much lamer in the near than the off' foot, 
although the latter was smaller, and more contracted than the 
former . The heels had been opened , as it is termed by the 
sapient smiths, that is the bars had been nearly removed, and 
the feet otherwise maltreated. I ordered his feet to be properly 
pared, and the shoe nailed round the toe and outside quarter 
only. About two months afterwards, on coming to be shod for 
the third or fourth time, his feet were pointed out to me by my 
smith, as having become wider by at least half an inch. The 
horse had continued his work as leader of a coach, but his lame¬ 
ness rather increased than otherwise, and he was frequently 
lying down; yet his feet enlarged against my anticipations, as 
I did not expect that he would have thrown sufficient weight on 
his fore quarters to produce this effect, the more particularly as 
he was a light horse. 
I am entirely unknown to Mr. Clark, and but barely acquainted 
with Mr. Turner; and therefore trust that I shall be regarded 
as perfectly disinterested and unprejudiced, pro or con, on either 
side. I cannot, however, but be struck by the mode in which 
Mr. Turner has made public his method of shoeing. He lays 
claim to no discovery; he assumes to himself no fanciful invention; 
but he plainly states the circumstances that induced him to adopt 
and amend his present system ; and so simple does it now appear, 
that the wonder is not that he has introduced it, but that it never 
has been practised before. But does he deserve the less credit for 
not being the actual inventor? By no means: as Dr. Jenner 
deserves all the honour of the benefits arising from vaccination, so 
does Mr. Turner merit every praise for his laborious and successful 
investigation of the navicular joint disease, and for the intro¬ 
duction of his late improvement in shoeing. He certainly has 
been,in these respects, a fortunate man; and I should imagine his 
singular success, in great measure, to be owing to his not puz¬ 
zling his head with impracticable theories, and to his never 
losing sight of the nti bono . 
VOL. 11T. 3 N 
