Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-02-12

VI INC hsAA u blli was luHOuuttu " luCOt
porate the town of Norwood out of territory
taken from Dedham and Walpole, and also
bill TO supply the town of Wakefield with water.
II Orsc-ShOeIns-Pr of Cruelty TO
Dumb Animals.
LEICESTER, Feb. s, 1872.
To the Editor Of the Spy: Since my letter of
the 18th ult., on the "Charlier method of
shoeine," have received numerous letters Of
inquiry from interested people, most of whom
have discovered the truth of the English say
ing:-"a good horse will wear out two sets of
feet" As a discussion of the SUBJECT is in the
interest of humanity, TO a generous, and sensi-
tive servant of man, and also matter of coon
omy in which the whole community are equal
ly concerned, do not hesitate to address you
again. | have before me letter from Mr.. K. A.
Goodenou9h of New York, whose system | rec
commended, in which he shows me that the
| ''Charler method" was stolen from him Good
enough) in France. This was proved TO the sat
isfaction of the practical men in charge of the
| stables of the emperor, who united in recon-
mending Goodenoughs system. The horses in
| the imperial stables were shod in this way until
the fall Of the empire. The Goodenough shoe
also received diploma, honorable mention, and
| a bronze medal, at the Paris Universal EXPOSE
| sition of 1861. 1t is largely used in
London, and by. hunting men all
over England and Ireland. In the United
States it is in use on nincty-tour horse railroads,
| all the omnibus lines in New York, and is APP
proved by most of the intelligent owners of val
liable horses. | am told that few years ago it
was damaging to a mans character in this part
of the country to have skill in the management
of horses, and that a man who kept fast horse
| was considered disreputable. | am glad to find
that the advance of human intellect, in its cor
| rection of errors and abuses, has reversed this
| Judgment, and that the men who choose to drive
| SloC horses are now the entrusted. Encouraged
by the present state of affairs venture TO make
the following remarks to the growing class of
thinking horsemen, feeling sure of an interested,
if not an approving audience. The price of
good horse is not merely his first cost, but it is
Also like "the price of liberty-eteinal Uigilance
that vigilance must be joined with common
sense in a continual battle against the ignorance
and prejudice Of grooms and farriers. As soon
as the colt is old enough TO begin to work. he
meets the terrible necessity of artificial life
shooting with iron. The manner in
which this is done makes or mars his
usefulness. If shod SO as to conform to nature,
preserve the natural shape Of the foot, and al
low It's expansion, the horse is useful to old
age; but if sho1 in the common way, nature
soon succumbs, and the noble horse, in middle
life becomes a stiiened jade and begins TO be
Of
horse existence, or finds the relief of death. In
Main street gentleman recently called my at.
tcntion to a fine mare, always well kept, and
carefully driven. Her form and temper would
seem conioined to last thirty years, but all the
good gifts of nature had been insidiously under
mined and ruined by the art of the blacksmith,
VINO had not left her a foot to stand on. The
| hoof presented a solid growth of shell an inch
too long, the bars and sole carefully followed
out, so that if inverted, the foot would hold as
much as a teacup. Upon this was nailed
thick, broad-web shoe, four times as heavy as
necessary, every blow Of which on the frozen
ground, in fast trottiDg, would send paralyzing
| shocks not only to the foreegs, but to the very
| brain. Let man clasp a pound weight tight
| ly in his hand, and strike an I'M
| yielding surface with it and he will understand
the case. No wonder the mare had a crack in
one hoof from the coronet to the toe and stood
resting her weight on her hind quarters, "point-
ing" with both fore feet; reversing the action
of those silly women who, stted on high heels,
relieve their lame back and tortured toes by
bending forward. As woman is not a dumb
animal, and as she has a powerful aptitude for
doing just as she likes, it is wild temerity in
me to attempt to give an opinion relative to her
whim-whams and vagaries, but | cannot help
expressing fervent hope that before the be-
wildering sex assume the political and other
duties now portentously impending over them,
they will alter their method of shoeing and con-
tinue the march of progress, restingheir weight
on the proper muscles of their legs, and upon
the natural arch of the instep, To return to
my subject: the mare above referred to belongs
to humane gentleman and is fair
example OF three quarters of the old
horses in Worcester county. What is
the remedy? may be asked, My answer is
proper shoeing. The true shape of horses
hoof is as broad as it is long. The hard shell,
or outside oval" encloses the delicate mechau-
ism of ionted bones that play upon natural
cushion, the frog; the braces and sole strength
en- the hoof and keep it expanded. The frog
striking the ground evenly with the wall at each
step lessons the force of the blow, prevents con-
cussion to the upper joints, and also aids expan-
sion. The first act of an average smith is to
pare off a portion Of the frog, then with his
crooked knife he hollows out as much of the
braces and sole as he chooses, frequently think
ing Of something else he cuts TO the sensitive
sole and draws blood. He then nails on a
heavy shoe, so broad that the frog cannot reach
the ground, AMI the pressure comes not only
upon the wall, but upon the thin crust protect
ing the heel; hence the bruised heels, corns, &C.
The frog thus cut away dries up, and is not the
elastic, vital substance it should bc-the bars
and sole weakened, the hoof contracts becomes
oolong in shape, and begins to com.
press and restrict the action of the deli
cate joints which it should protect. All the
common diseases of the feet, quarter or sand
crack, corns, thrush and fever, are liable to fol-
low, and, not only this but the poor wretch, to re-
lieye the constant pain in its feet, "poins" with
one or both fore feet springs its knees shortens
its gait, and goes to pieces generally. In cor
recting these evils the first rule to be observed is
never to cut the frog, braces or sole. Let the
wall of the foot be smoothed with the rasp, and
shoe put on with bearing surface so narrow
that it will press upon the wall only, aud not
upon the thin crust Of the heel. The form of
shoe exactly adapted to all the requirements of
the hoof, is that invented by r. A. Goodenouah of
New York, and used by the horse railroads and
omnibus lines all over the United States; but
when this shoe cannot be obtained let every
man who cares for the comfort or value of his
beast see that the natural shape of the foot is
not destroyed by the knife, and that the horse
| Mears no more iInn fhnn IL nnnncenr,,