ON THK SIIOiaNG OF FRENCH HORSES. 
91 
At the commencement, allow me to state, that my experience 
among French horses is limited; it is, therefore, evident from this 
admission, that I am incapable of giving a general correct view 
of the subject oh which I am writing. But when I said that four 
out of six French horses that come to my forge had corns, it is 
still my opinion that I was correct in the assertion. 
This may, in some measure, be accounted for from the fact of my 
French patrons being somewhat uncourteous to me, inasmuch as 
they seldom send me their horses until they are in such a crip¬ 
pled state, from feet diseases, either corns or otherwise, as to 
be almost useless to them; and, what is most singular, we have 
uniformly relieved these horses. This little fact strongly marks 
the superiority of the English over the French system of shoeing. 
1 did not intend to convey the idea, that four out of six of them, 
taken promiscuously, are diseased with corns; nor do I disbelieve 
there are many horses, both in France and England, that, with 
the exception of occasional intervals, work sound with corns. 
It is not extraordinary nor inexplicable to me, that the French 
smiths should not be more conversant with the proper treatment of 
foot-diseases, when I see their veterinary surgeons making the 
blunders they do respecting the feet. For, how unany of their 
avowed shoulder-lamenesses have I distinctly traced to the feet! 
I would not dare make this assertion, unless I could bear it out by 
the subsequent treatment of several of these cases; for it is noto¬ 
rious, that we have given immediate relief merely from properly 
paring and shoeing. 
Their attributing almost all the lamenesses of the fore extremi¬ 
ties, when they cannot see or feel the cause, to the shoulder, ap¬ 
pears not to have escaped the natural acuteness of Nimrod. His 
description of the French shoe is correct; and I am not bigot enough 
to deny there are not some good properties in it. They who are 
fond of frog-pressure—among which number is your humble ser¬ 
vant, although not going the whole hog—may have to it their 
lieart’s content with this shoe. But, surely, sir, this pressure, car¬ 
ried to the extent which it must be with this shoe, must be at the 
expense of tendons; and if the marks of firing and budding-irons, 
with which we see so many legs scored, are any proof of it, there 
is no reason to doubt the fact. 
In conclusion, Mr. Editor, allow me to say, that with any affairs 
connected witli the foot we are many years in advance of the 
French; and also to suggest to Nimrod (and it is witli some diffi¬ 
dence I make the suggestion), that the horses we have here, or at 
least such as we have in the neighbourhood, are not subjects on 
which to test good shoeing; for the feet of those ill-bred animals 
are singularly sound; and 1 believe it will be admitted, that the 
