178 
THE GREAT THICK-SKINNED ANIMALS 
There is really no need for horses to be shod at all. They would 
work far better without shoes of any kind, and all who have made the 
experiment have found that such is really the case, and that their 
horses are improved in every way by having their hoofs allowed to 
grow as nature intended them. What the shoer does is to cut away 
the frog of the foot which ought to rest upon the ground, and so to 
throw all the weight upon the outer part of the hoof. Then a rigid 
piece of iron is nailed to the outer rim, so that all the beautiful elastic 
thin layers are prevented from working, while the hoof itself is split 
and damaged by the nails, and the animal is obliged to lift a needless 
weight at every step. 
This last may seem a small matter, and so it would be if the 
horse were only to travel for a short distance; but, when he has to 
cover many miles of ground with a rider upon his back, or to drag a 
heavy load behind him, the weight of the shoes adds very much to the 
work of the animal. Why, supposing that each foot is put to the 
ground only once in every six yards, and that each shoe weighs but 
four ounces, the horse has even then to lift rather more than two 
hundred and ninety-three pounds of extra weight for every mile he 
travels; so that, in a twelve-mile journey, he would thus have altogether 
to raise more than a ton and a half, owing to the weight of his shoes 
alone! 
Nature would never be so careless as to form the foot of one of 
her servants in such a manner that it would be in danger of wearing 
out if it were not protected by an iron covering. She never allows 
any part of the frame of any of her servants to wear out from use, but 
forms all the tools which she makes in such a manner that they are 
always fit for service, and ready to perform the full amount of work 
which is required of them. And this rule she has not broken in the 
hoof of the horse, which is one of the many wonderful instances of 
the perfection which is to be found in every tool formed by the hand 
of nature. 
In breaking the shock of the footfall, the hoof is very greatly 
assisted by the manner in which the bones of the leg are set upon 
one another. 
In order to explain this to you, however, I must ask you how 
