The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-08-25
Uushodi Horses.
New York Evening Post.


Some years ago, had a favorite horse which
was constant source of trouble and expense
from falling lame. Not being fully satisfied
with the reasons given for this lameness, by the
horse-shoer and veterinary surgeon concluded
to look into the matter myself, being physician.
From the structure of the horses foot could
see no reason for this unusual tenderness but a
study of the uses of its different parts, and OBJ
servations Of the way they We're treated in shoe
ing led me to the conviction that shoeing caused
all the trouble SIill was not sure that this
could be dispensed with. Chance, however,
threw in my way an account of Mr.. Ransoms
horses in England which are. never
shod. He has many hundreds of them
engaged in all kinds of work, but none
Of them ever wearshees, and they newer suffer
in consequence. On the contrary, they are
almost entirely free from those foot troubles
to which all shod horses seem liable / also
learned that in Brazil horses are never shod,
though they are constantly used to the rough
est possible work, over mountain roads strewn
with sharp rocks. A friend also told me that
his father in Switzerland had fine Arabian
horse, which was constantly used in their rough
mountain roads, and was never shod and was
never lame.
This determined me to try the experiment
on my own horse. So / had the shoes re-
field, and then began to use him on the road.
At first he seemed to feel strange, pick
ing his way, as it were but soon he
began to step out as usual, and in
month he went over anything in his way,
not only as well but better than he ever did
while slod / purposely took him over the
toughest places / could find, and especially new
~ macadamized roads, but never had the slight
est trouble with him. From that time on he
never went lame nor had any trouble whatever
with his feet, nor did he ever stumble or slip. In
fact whenever in future the roads were slippery
from ice he was always taken in preference to
any horse with turned-up Shoes for they would
slip sometimes but he newer did.
II foJaxy will ctr fhao or Of fln
horses foot he will see why he would not slip
when his feet were left to take their natural de-
velopment. The frog of a horses foot is simply
a soft, elastic cushion, which receives the force
of the blow when the foot strikes the ground, and
saves it from all jars. Naturally the frog pro-
trudes beyond the hard horny part for this very
purpose. But the horse sheer, from ignorance,
pares off this frog, and SO let's the force of the
blow come. on the comparatively hard. horny
part, made still more unyielding by the iron
plate nailed upon 1T. Every time, then, that the
foot strikes the ground a violent jar strikes from
the foot all up the leg with most injurious effect
upon the bones and muscles, and especially upon
the joints. From this constant concnSson come
mostif not all of the worst evils that affect the
feet and legs Of horses. Let man receive
blow as with a.hammer upon the sole of his foot
every step he takes and he viii realize the truth
OF this.
But in addition to this constant concussinn,
the iron shoe Is hurtfu1 in other ways In win
ter keeps the foot constantly cold and the
nails carry the cold up to the. quick, vital
part, which nature herself has striven to defend
By covering it with the dense hoof. The point
of every nail really has the same effect on the
soft vital part Immediately above it as if all the
hoof had been pared down to that poiuts And
this very mailing, feel assured, is itself the
cause of many Of the, worst troubles TO the
horses hoof Let any one imagine the
effect of the hammer blows given
to the foot when these nails are driven
/ in. The whole limb is literally shocked
i by them, and the surfaces of all the bones in the
/ joints, where they come together, are bruised
and made abnormally sensitive. Setting aside
| the not unfrequeht occurrence of a nail being
driven into the quick, the act of shoeing must
always be an injury, aud the shoe itself an
Il evil.
The result of abandoning the practice of shoe
\ ing my own animal was all could wish I
saved some twenty dollars a year in shOeing, and
as much more in farriers bills, while my horse
never went lame and never slipped. had him
in constant use for four years, when he died
| from old age. His hoofs were like Jumps of
black ebony, and after the first three months
| when the hurtful effects of past shoeing were
overcome, they never cracked nor broke, and al
ways grew quite as fast as usage wore them
| away. All that was done to them was to pass a
| file round the edge now and then, to keep them
round, as we pare our nails.