Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/101

 the upper part of the tablet, which is in size one foot four inches by one foot, is an inscription,, who may have been the winner of the race, or the artist of the terra-cotta. Most important of all, however, for our present purpose, is the representation of what look like bandages on the fore limbs of all the horses—a little rubbed on the nearest, but certainly most distinct on the middle and left-hand horses. There is nothing of the kind on the hind limbs, and this may easily be accounted for. Admitting that these are the bands of the hippopodes, it is well known to all horsemen that the fore feet are more liable to suffer from attrition, when unshod, than the hind ones, simply because they have to support more weight and strain. In India, for instance, cavalry and other horses are frequently only shod on the fore feet, as they require this defence; while the hinder ones can be submitted to a great deal of wear without suffering at all to the same degree.

The fasciolæ cover the limb apparently from the knee downwards, and though nothing of the sandal itself can be distinguished, yet it is to be observed that the hoofs of the fore extremities are much larger, and altogether look clumsier than those behind, which have no bandages above them; a circumstance that leads to the inference that the hippopodes enveloped the hoofs as closely as they could be made to do.

In the same collection of terra-cottas are some very fine bas-reliefs in which horses are admirably represented, but none have their limbs swathed liked these, which had probably been subjected to an extra amount of racing, being noted horses, and had consequently become foot-sore.