142 
AN IMPROVED HORSE-SHOE. 
By H. Withers, M.R.C.V.S., V.S. Royal Artillery, 
Aldershot. 
Gentlemen, —With this I have forwarded to you plates 
of a new kind of shoe that I have patented, and which I think 
will be found to possess great advantages over the one now 
in use. The accompanying diagrams will show 7 that it is very 
simple in construction, being nothing more than a shoe 
very similar to the ordinary one, cut in half at the toe, so 
that there is, in fact, a pair of shoes on each foot. The 
corner of the inner circle, at the divided part, is slightly 
rounded off, and each half is furnished with a clip of the 
ordinary size at the toe, and another, a smaller one, at the 
side, the latter assisting very much in retaining the shoe in 
its place during the operation of nailing it to the foot. The 
clip at the toe, however, I have found quite sufficient to keep 
the shoe on the foot, even in riding over a heavy country. 
The fullering is only to be carried to within an inch, or an 
inch and a quarter, of the toe; it thus renders that part of 
the shoe much stronger than if it were continued all 
round. 
The advantage of this “ divided shoe 99 is, that it leaves the 
foot more as it w r ould be in a state of nature. Instead of the 
unyielding three-quarter circle of iron now 7 used, cramping 
and confining it, the division of the shoe at the toe allows it 
free play and lateral expansion, and the descent of the sole, be 
that to ever so infinitesimal an extent, vs not interfered with. 
Concussion is also broken, and the result—the more elastic 
step—is soon appreciated by the rider. 
1 have been using these shoes for some time upon my 
own hunters and harness-horses, with perfect success; and 
I was very much struck w 7 ith the improved going, after two 
or three snoeings only, of a mare I used as a charger. I 
have also tried them upon several officers’ horses, and horse- 
artillery troopers, and the feet of some of the latter which were 
small and contracted have improved very much in appearance. 
I consider these shoes to be particularly adapted for troop 
horses, as the ordinary size, viz., b\ inches, can easily be put 
upon feet from 5J to 6 inches in size, with this advantage, 
that thev can be used as hind shoes on service. 
The workman will find it the easiest way to fit the shoe 
