Horse and man : their mutual dependence and duties . sion whichhas been treated according to these directions. Itwas drawn by the late Mr. Sherwin from the actualspecimen, which was by no means the worst thatI have seen. I will now proceed to show what is the result ofthus preparing the hoof, first, however, mentioning thatthe directions which are heregiven are followed both in Eng-land and America. While on atour through the Northern Statesin the winter of 1883,1 deliveredlectures on this subject in manyplaces. One well-known writerand lecturer took umbrage at mystatements, and had the hardi-
Horse and man : their mutual dependence and duties . sion whichhas been treated according to these directions. Itwas drawn by the late Mr. Sherwin from the actualspecimen, which was by no means the worst thatI have seen. I will now proceed to show what is the result ofthus preparing the hoof, first, however, mentioning thatthe directions which are heregiven are followed both in Eng-land and America. While on atour through the Northern Statesin the winter of 1883,1 deliveredlectures on this subject in manyplaces. One well-known writerand lecturer took umbrage at mystatements, and had the hardi-hood to assert, both by pen and on the platform, thatin America the frogs of the horses were not cut away,nor the soles pared. Yet, being in America, I tookmy descriptions, not from our English customs butfrom American sources, one, as the reader may haveseen, being stamped with official authority. The first direction is, to pare the sole until ityields to the pressure of the thumb. In many casesthis paring of the sole—I again use American autho-. HOOF IMPROVED BYTHE FAERIEE. 60 HORSE AND MAN. rities—is carried so far that blood-specks ( dew-drops, as they are euphemistically termed) oozethrough the thinned horn. Just see what this of the chief duties of the sole is to protect thesensitive structures within the hoof from sharp stonesand similar objects. It is difficult to persuade many people thatthe Creator really did know how to make a horse,and that divine handiwork cannot very well be im-proved by man. But, a horse, whose hoof is left asNature made it, cares nothing about pebbles or evenbroken flints, but can gallop among them withoutbeing even aware of their presence, so dense andstrong is the horn of the sole. Within the last four weeks, an unshod marebelonging to one of my friends ran away with hermistress, who was driving her in an ordinary road had been newly laid with loose stones, butshe galloped for nearly two miles before she wasstopped. I
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