Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/587

 nin, and Goyau; and for Belgium those of Defays. With an intimate knowledge of the structure and organization of the horse's foot, the majority of these writers attempt to establish the practice of shoeing on a really scientific basis; and to make it not only subservient to the defence of healthy organs, but also to remedy their diseases and defects. In all these works we can trace a gradual admission of, or approach to, the opinions held by Lafosse with respect to the preservation of the horse's hoof, by abstaining from mutilating it.

I regret I cannot give anything like a just idea of these writings in the limits I have allowed myself; but as they are comparatively recent, they are easily accessible to the inquirer who is anxious to learn more of the subject than I have attempted to sketch.

The curved or 'rocking' shoe of Bourgelat, so objectionable because the horse's foot shod with it had no level or firm base to support the weight of the limb and body, was in general use in France up to a late period; and though Gohier had diminished the excessive toe and heel curvature, we find Jauze still recommending it, and, more or less modified, it has continued in use to the present day.