Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/575

 that it would be far wiser to leave it alone. It would be impossible to frame any rule applicable to the paring out of all horses' feet, or indeed to the feet of the same horse at all times. For instance, it is manifestly unwise to pare the sole as thin in a hot dry season, when the roads are broken up and strewed with loose stones, as in a moderately wet one, when they are well bound and even; for, in the former case, the sole is in perpetual danger of being bruised by violent contact with the loose stones, and consequently needs a thick layer of horn for its protection; while the latter case offers the most favourable surface that most of our horses ever have to travel upon, and should be taken advantage of for a thorough paring out of the sole, in order that the internal parts of the foot may derive the full benefit arising from an elastic and descending sole, a state of things very essential to the due performance of their separate functions. Again, horses with upright feet and high heels grow horn very abundantly, especially towards the toe, and are always benefited by having the toe shortened, the heels lowered, and the sole well pared out; while horses with flat feet and low heels grow horn sparingly. . . . . In the first case the thickness of the sole prevents the due descent of the coffin-bone when the horse's weight is thrown upon the foot, and it requires in consequence to be pared down thinner and rendered more yielding; while in the latter case it is already so thin and unresisting, that it can with difficulty support the coffinbone in its proper place, and offers at best but a feeble resistance to its downward tendency.'

Here we have this writer recommending that sound