Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/508

 ) at the quarter it is also advantageous. The sole or frog should never he pared; the wall alone should be cut down, if it is too long. When a horse cuts himself with the opposite foot the inner branch of the shoe ought to be shorter and thinner than the outer. In order that the shoe wear a long time, I have used a nail of my invention, the head of which is in the form of a cone, and the aperture in the shoe of the same shape, and exactly filled by the nail. However much the shoe may be worn it is always retained in its place. This kind of nail (fig. 183) possesses three other advantages: one, that it is less liable to be broken at the neck because it exactly fits the stamped hole; the other, that it is smaller, and, in consequence, not likely to press on the sensitive part of the foot; and, lastly, that it does less damage to the horn.

'By this new mode of shoeing all the defects and accidents attendant upon the old method are evaded.'

Elsewhere he speaks of another kind of shoeing, which is not without interest. The chapter referring to this is headed: 'Half-circle shoes for the safety of the rider, for use on dry and slippery roads, either in summer or winter, in ascending mountains, or in descending them at a gallop, without slipping in any way.' This method of shoeing was contrived as follows: 'The semi-circle (fig. 184, next page) ought to be from two to three lines in width and one and a half in thickness, so as to admit of the holes being made in them with a punch; these holes should be counter-pierced on the same side on which they are stamped, so that the nail-head be completely buried in their cavities. Ten holes at least are required, but they should be small in proportion, as they are