Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/248

220 early training, has probably given rise to the Arab hyperbole: 'So wonderful is the instinct of the thoroughbred horse that, if he casts a shoe, he draws attention to it himself by showing his foot.' This exaggeration at least proves how docile these horses are to be shod, and further explains how every horseman in the desert ought to have the knowledge and the means of shoeing his own horse while on a journey. With them it is a point of the highest importance. It is not enough to be very skilful in horsemanship, or to train a horse in the most perfect manner, to acquire the reputation of a thorough horseman; in addition to all this, he must likewise be able to put on a shoe if necessary. Thus, on setting out for a distant expedition, every horseman carries with him in his djebira shoes, nails, a hammer, pincers, some strips of leather to repair his harness, and a needle. Should his horse cast a shoe, he alights, unfastens his camel-rope, passes one end round the kerbouss of the saddle, and the other round the pastern, and ties the two ends together at such a length as will make the horse present his foot. The animal stirs not an inch, and his rider shoes him without assistance. If it be a hind-shoe that has been thrown, he rests the foot upon his knee, and dispenses with aid from his neighbours. To avoid making a mistake, he passes his awl into the nail-holes, in order to assure himself beforehand of the exact direction the nails should take. If, by chance, the horse is restive, he obtains for the hind-feet the help of a comrade, who pinches the nose or ears of the animal. For the fore-feet, he merely turns his hind-quarters towards a thick prickly shrub, or extemporizes another mode of punishment with a nose-bag filled with earth. Such cases, however, are rare.