88 REMARKS ON THE ‘‘ GOODENOUGII SHOE. 
of no injury whatever to the vitality of the horn, nor can the 
same amount of security be given to the work by cold fitting 
as by the common plan of burning on. 
A great advantage is said to belong to the new system 
from the circumstance of the ground surface of the shoe 
being made concave, thereby preventing balling in snow or 
mnd.'’^ In every case of the use of the shoe that I have 
observed, this concavity had nearly or quite disappeared by 
the time the shoe was half worn out; another advantage is 
stated to be that which arises from the nail-heads being pre¬ 
vented from striking the ground,—a desideratum that will 
be appreciated by those who know how sensitive the foot is 
for some time after shoeing.-’’’ In my opinion the foot is not 
more sensitive after a careful shoeing than it was before, and 
if it ivere so, how much greater would be the jar given to the 
foot by the projections of the Goodenough ■’’’ shoe than by 
those of the nail-heads of the ordinary kind; for it must be 
remembered that the former, for some considerable time pre¬ 
vious to its being worn out, possesses a ground surface as 
plain as that of the common shoe. The Goodenough 
shoe is also said to prevent overreaching,^^ and is likewise 
stated to be ‘‘ a non-interfering shoe,’” a term I take to im¬ 
ply that it prevents cutting or striking the opposite leg when 
in action. The first of these evils is occasioned rather by the 
excessive stride of the animal than by any particular mode 
of shoeing. 
Another advantage claimed for the Goodenough ’” shoe 
is that of its being 40 per cent, lighter than the ordinary 
shoe. Now it is clear that the latter can be made of any 
weight, and it is also well known that its weight is regulated 
according to circumstances, that is to say, according as the 
work to be done by the horse is heavy or light, fast or slow. 
I have now to notice a circumstance which, in my opinion, 
is important in connection with this subject, I have been 
informed upon good authority that many of the horses 
belonging to the London General Omnibus Company, now 
being shod with the Goodenough ” shoe, are found to 
wear out the hind shoes in particular in five days (tlie fore 
shoes perhaps not so quickly) ; if this is true the frequent 
shoeing thereby necessitated must, in my opinion, be 
ductive of great injury to the feet. 
AVe are informed in the pamphlet to which I have referred 
that horses shod on the new system are found to travel five 
miles in fifty farther without more fatigue, and also to draw 
heavier loads than when otherwise shod; but by Avhat 
method of calculation such a conclusion is arrived at avc are 
