Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/705

 their full share of pressure with the ordinary huntingshoe.

The Charlier shoe is difficult to make, and takes a much longer time to apply by inexperienced workmen, and the smaller and thinner the hoofs are, the more this difficulty is increased. It requires skilful artisans, who will, consequently, demand a higher price for their labour. And even when fabricated from the best iron, I have found it very liable to break at some one of the nailholes, and one of its most objectionable tendencies is to widen at the points of the heels, owing to the lightness of the metal. This can only be remedied by making the shoe stronger, and of course heavier, or by having the last nails placed near the ends of the branches.

In the face of these obstacles, this method of shoeing can scarcely be expected altogether to supersede the sub-plantar system.

For carriage and saddle horses, condemned to travel incessantly on the pavement of large towns, and which have strong hoofs, it may be advantageous to resort to it, and particularly in cases where the heels have a tendency to contraction.

I have tried it with success in these cases, but the same result would have followed the use of 'tips.' A narrow rim of iron the length of a tip, incrusted in the wall, is an excellent pathological shoe for a contracted foot, or even for ordinary wear by light carriage or saddle horses.

Though my experience of the 'ferrure Charlier' has been in its favour, yet I would not at present venture to recommend it for general application. It is not likely to