Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/328

 that they chiefly belong to three models which, in all probability, have had the same uses, though they differ in shape. The first model may be described as a somewhat oblong or oval plate, or sole of metal, having a pyriform or circular opening in the middle (supposed to be for the purpose of allowing the moisture to escape from the horse's foot, as well as to give it air!). Transverse or crucial grooves are nearly always noticed on the under-surface of this plate, as if to make it bite the ground better. Two clips, sometimes four, rise from its sides, which are terminated at times in rings or hooks bending outwards, and the posterior part of the plate usually ends in a hook that projects more or less upwards.

The second form, found concurrently with the first, is much narrower in the sole, has a longer heel or spur than it, and is besides furnished with one in front which rises like the prow of a galley; clips also flank the sides, but these are irregular in number, sometimes one on each side, sometimes two, and in one instance I have seen (in the British Museum) only one on one side; these clips are often rather high, and nearly always terminate in eyes or hooks bending outwards. Sometimes there is an oval opening in the sole, but the grooves are seldom absent.

The third description is more curious. There is no hook in front, but the posterior one yet remains; and the two lateral appendages are prolonged, gradually tapering and bending towards each other as they incline to the front of the plate, until they meet and are welded together, when they are drawn out to form a strong hook, as if to compensate for the absence of the anterior crotchet of the second model.