Page:Horses and roads.djvu/86

 Rh CHAPTER IX.

DESCRIPTION OF FROG AND SOLE, BY DOUGLAS—RUSSELL ON HOT FITTING, AND ‘CLIPS’ ON SHOES—FACILITY OF ‘BACKING’ WHEN A HORSE STANDS UPON HIS FEET—STRENGTH OF THE HORSES’S TOE—EXCESSIVE GROWTH OF HORN ON TOES OF UNSHOD DONKEYS IN IRELAND—ALL SHOEING ONLY AN AFFAIR OF ROUTINE, AND IS QUITE UNNECESSARY—MAYHEW, ‘VETERINARY SURGEONS CLING TO THE PRACTICES IN WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN EDUCATED’—RETREAT OP NAPOLEON FROM MOSCOW WITH UNSHOD HORSES.

When speaking of the importance of leaving the sole free to receive pressure, we by no means mean to imply that it must be under continual pressure. Its arched form indicates that on hard level ground it was not intended to come down. Such ground is often slippery, as in the case of smooth rocks, and the contact of only the frog, heels, and crust is more fitted to prevent slipping than if the hoof were flat. Hence in case of a slip under peculiar circumstances—such as very steep or wet ground, for instance—the concave shape of the bottom of the unshod foot would serve to allow the periphery to catch hold of irregularities which would arrest the slipping. On either softer or more irregular ground the sole is quite capable of taking its proper share of weight, as those who have seen