510 MR. BROAD IN REPLY TO MR. FLEMING. 
Both plans of treatment are correct in principle. Many 
acute cases will recover with the ordinary shoes on, or with¬ 
out any, provided the exercise and physic be given early. As 
I have"before stated, my shoes enable the horse to throw his 
weight off the lamina more effectually than he can do with 
the ordinary shoes, or without any. It also lessens the 
jarring, and prevents the feet from becoming broken, as when 
exercised without shoes. Chronic cases are not recoverable 
without the use of special shoes, and that alone is a great 
point in favour of their use in all cases. I have had sufficient 
experience of my plan of treatment to be able to state that, 
with special shoes, physic, and a judicious use of exercise 
commenced early, rare indeed would a case be an unsuccessful 
one. 
I have not yet had one; others have, I know. But I 
believe it to have been either from exercising to excess, or 
from not having commenced the plan of treatment early or 
before the congestive stage had passed into that of acute 
inflammation, which then requires a greater amount of 
caution in the regulation of exercise, which I have referred 
to in a former article. I have been written to by many 
members, after they had been called upon to treat a case, 
asking me what sort of shoe I used, and what other treatment 
was necessary. If persons take so little interest when any¬ 
thing new is brought forward, how can they give it a fair 
trial when called in a hurry to a case which requires prompt 
measures, the details of which they are unacquainted with, 
and have to wait until the disease has altered its character 
before they commence the proper treatment ? 
Mr. Fleming has not done me justice in making it appear 
that my plan is to cut the soles and frogs of'weak feet. A 
reference to either of my previous articles will prove this. 
In my article of the May number I find it stated that there 
are some very weak and flat feet, with very large frogs, which 
require cutting. On referring to my notes, I find there is an 
omission of the words do appear to require cutting,^^ that 
is, the largeI do not knowhow the mistake occurred. 
I referred more particularly to large, weak, flat-footed cart¬ 
horses. There are also many flat, weak feet, which will not 
become strong and good, whether cut or not. As I have 
before stated, I carry out the system of not cutting sole or 
frog as much as possible; but there are some people who do 
not like the appearance of unpared feet, and will have their 
horses^ feet cut out. I am of opinion that the cutting of 
the soles and frogs is the greatest evil in connection with 
shoeing. 
