Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-08-14
OUGHT HORSES TO BE SHOD.
=, ,
The English HOrsemen and Doctors
Discuss the Question, and Decide it i'm
the Negative. .-..f

|
for many years previous in Brazil, be-
lleves that" horses ought never to be
shod. Keep rasp and a large trough
file" he says, "and use them frequent
ly on the bottoms as we'll as edges Of
the hoots, and on no account allow a
draW-knlfe on your premises, or your
man will be cutting away the bars and
frog, and pairing the sole, Just as he sees
the farrier do, thereby altering the foot
from what the Almighty desinged it.
[ except no class of horses, or any sea-
son, or any kind of road, OF across any
country" Mr.. RansOme grounds his
belief on what he has seen in South
America, where the horses, both in city
and country, are unshod. He has
driven and ridden unshod hoses HIM
/ self constantly ever since the year 1862;
and in Brazil he has often owned two
hundred horses at one time, used for all
purposes, draft, saddle, and pack, and
not shoe on any one of them. And
his horses were not working over grass
or sand, but over the toughest roads
imaginable. & Ia Brazil" he tells us,
pack-hOrses come down the country
from over eight hundred miles, about
six weeks journey, carrying the very
heavy load Of three hundred and TWEEN
| ty pounds, exclusive of saddle and
travelling necessaries. Yet they get
back again with a return load all sound
and not an animal among themis shod.
In the cities, the streets Of which are
paved and aspbalted, the European,
Arabian, and other carriage horses
which cost very long prices, are all I'M
shod, andso slipping is unknown"
Pull offyour hores's shoes and gradu-
ally let him feel his feet, advises Mr..
Ransom, keeping the edges of the hoof
slightly rounded Oft with rasp to pre-
vent the travelling up of the edges, and.
after year or tvo's experience, YOU
will become agreeably surprised by the
absence O. of corns, splints, and other
nuisances brought on by shoeing. An
Iother point made by Mr.. Ransom is
that while it is true that draft horses
have to dig their toes into the ground to
start load, it is merely because thew
are shod, and when left unshod they start
with the flat Of the foot, AMI thus have
a more holding surface. Three wears
ago, on his arrival in Venezuela, whence
he has but just returned, Mr. Ransom
bought two saddle horses for the use of
himself and servant He writes: ..t'j
81" [ took two horses, ffty-two miles
apart, measured by myself with chain.
| was in the habit of riding from one to
the other on the same animal in one
day, and kept them both during the
whole time, Of course all the. time I'm
shOd; and this in all seasons over a.
country that embraced every descrip-
ton of road from swamp up to rocky
mountain passes. The worst road T
know Of Is a heavy clay with stone
mixed up IN it, and after rain; yet even
thus only brought out more strongly
the advantage Of having no shoes to
deal with" ~ -'..
MIR. Ransom's views are confirmed
by other gentlemen. Percy W. Doyle
says: 3D..
=" Every word he has written about
Brazil applies equally to Mexico, where
[ lived for. several years, and my ex-
perience is the same as his as to the
immense advantage of riding and driy-
ing unshod horses. The hoofs, by their
natural growth, are preserved from
many diseases, greatly produced by the
various systems Of shoeing."g ....s. !.
Mai. Gen. Robert G. Romer had ex-
penenced some years ago, when he
commanded battery of royal artillery
at Natal, in using horses without shoes.
"The horses were," he writes, with few
| exceptions, unshod in their forefeet, and
none were rshod behind, and was in
the habit Of travelling the guns over
very rough ground, often over preciri-
Ftous, and at times very slippery, roads.
| am satisfied they did their work as
we'll and with greater comfort to them
selves, not, to mention economy, than if
they had been shod. My own horses
of which | had a good many during the
five Years was in Natal, were never,
with one exception, sllod, and I con-
stantiy. rode them, hunting and shoot
ing, and long distances" -''.l o@'
|" Under the Signature of "Pomingo-
larna, "some one writes that his expert
ence Of horses in Australia, extending
over a number Of years, enables him
partially to confirm the opinion express
ed by MI. George" Ransom. In Aus,
tralia, he informs us, "numbersloof
horses are used for various purposes
without being shod. The character of
}the, country ia which they are SO used
differs considerably, some being stony
and billy, others fiat, alluvial, and
sWampy.lu Both are, however, IN their
natural state. Wherever artificial roads
are made it becomes. 1 necessary for
horses to be shod, at least on the fore
feet. IF not, those which are perfectly
sound " hen going over country to which
they hey are accpst0 q! IS. hoWeyer rocky it
may be, show Signs OF 1ameness when
|usedunshod on macadanlized roads. In
order that the plan Of using ,unshod
horses in cities and towns should be
carried into effect, it should, therefore
beinecessary ito dtrain 'foals on ground
RGesfy smSG & sh FohdTss
position quite impraeticable for breed
ers, to undertake. yui6nsI, gotoa5,,re
g Machc" asserts that the Mexican
saddle horses used for pleasure or light