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A GOOD FORM OF SHOE.
663
slipping forward. Some time ago, I devised a shoe something in this form, which has been employed on the road and in the hunting-field, on fore and hind feet, and with most satisfactory results[1] (fig. 207).
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| fig. 207 |
Instead of the bevel on the ground surface gradually becoming shallower as it approaches the heels, as in the ordinary hunting-shoe, in my shoe it is rather shallow at the toe (a); and as it passes backw^ards gets deeper, until, within fig. 207 an inch or so of the extremity of the shoe, it has cut down through the thickness of the inner border and abruptly stops, leaving a sharp catch {b), that, like the inflexion
- ↑ Though for ages it has been known that the sole, especially at its margin, will sustain the pressure of the shoe, I put my own method of shoeing to a practical test during the hot weather in September last. It is certain that long journeys on hard roads during the summer months, on horses whose feet are pared, and armed with the ordinary seated shoe, is likely to cause inflammation of these organs. Starting from Chatham, my wife riding an Arab horse, and myself mounted on an Irish mare, the first day we rode to St Albans, about 56 miles, and in three days and a forenoon reached Atherstone, Warwickshire, a distance of about 150 miles. The horses' hoofs remained quite cool, and there was not the least symptom of tenderness during the whole journey. We returned to Chatham by another route a short time afterwards, travelling a distance of 200 miles in five days. At no time was the temperature of the feet increased beyond the normal degree. This experiment is only corroborative of what has been observed on ship-board with horses shod in a similar manner. It certainly appeared to give very different results to the journeys mentioned in some of the authors we have quoted, who speak of the poor horses lying down with painful feet the moment they were put in a stable, after a journey of some twenty or thirty miles.
