, 1885-11-07
HOT H%0RSESHOES.
ARE THEY PAINFUL OR INJURIOUS
TO THE ANIMALS HooF1
Bed-Hot Shoe. Never Used on Any Of
SIR. B"r~~r'- Horses = What the
Biaok-mIths Have to Say Of the
Doubtful Practice.


II is a practice with blacksmiths every
where to hold a hot hoe against the hoof
for an instant while the hoof Is between
the smiths knees The visitor standing
in the OF EN- doorway OF n blacksmith shop
may see the operation any day in city or
country. and from the volume Of smoke
and steam that rises he is quick to imagine
thai the operation is painful to the horse.
Is il either rainful or injuriousG The re-
porter asked Robert Bonner this question
the other day.
WHAT Mr.. BoNSER SAYS.
81 cannot answer the question. because
have not seen a red-hot horseshoe
touched TO a horses hoof In n dozen
years % was Mr. Ronuers reply. How
ever. ! do not believe that any law is nee
ossary to do away with the practice.
There is a device invented by myself a
good while ago and adopted by several
horseshoers which does away with the
necessity OF using a hot horseshoe. The
advantage Of 4 hot shoe lies in It's
marking the inequalities in the hoof so
that The smith can see what portions he
must pare OIL to make il fit the hoe. 1t
follows that If both the shoe and the hoof
are absolutely level and smooth they will
lit each other exactly. and the shoe eau
be rallied 10 its place My device con
sisis in hammering the shoe on the anvil
until 1t fits fat on a piece of marble ground
10 n true level After the shoe is level the
horses hoof 10 pared and then rasped TO
~ the shoe.
There is n shoe Maud S. wore when
she made her 2:09i record. " added Mr..
Bonner. rising from his chair and picking
up II shoe from -four or five In a corner of
the room. and here, " he continued. lis
n Partisan manikin of a horses hoof.
You sec. =" lac added. rs he placed them
together. ~that you cant see daylight be
tween them. | can not see why all horses
can not he shod in this manner. Pre-.
sumably The reason shoers do not uni
Nersally adopt this device is that a little
more time and care arc required. Whether
horses are positively injured by using red
hot shoes | do not know, \ careless smith
might ruin a horse by burning the hoof
too deep and by causing a cracked hoof.
but | really do not believe the evil could
be prevented by law.
BLACKSMITH $ OPINIONS.
A stalwart shocr on Seventh avenue
was holding II horses hoof between his
knees and applying q hot shoe to it, As
he squintcd first on one side and then on
the other to test the fit of the shoe. he
listened TO the reporters question, and
dropping the smoking hoof, replied.
"ltdoesn' hurt a horse TO burn his hoof
any more than it hurts YOU TO pare your
finger nail. 1t is possible. of course. to
bum The hoof to the quick. That is both
painful and dangerous. for the hoof may
be ruined. No smith who knows his
business will do that, and | believe there
arc few who do it. A smith would not
do it twice for the same horse owner.
Horses in the country may have their
hoofs burned with less danger of serious
results than city horses, because country
horses can go longer without shoeing.
Shoes are knocked OF quickly on city
pavements. and careful handling is
necessary. 1t would be difficult TO put
cold shoes on draught horses so that they
would not work loose. The difficulty
lies in making a close connection between
the hoof ant the shoe. To work in cold
iron would require so much time that
half Of the smiths would have to go out
Of the business. and the half that stayed
would have to charge three times as
much MS they do now 10 make both ends
meet
A scientific sheer on West Thirteenth
street said
"There can be no objection to using
hot shoes. unless the smith is very care
less. and | believe there are very few
such. The advantage of applying the
shoes hot is TO get u fit quickly. The fit
must be AS close as possible to prevent the
shoe from working loose and also TO keep
foreign substance from getting between
the shoe and the hoof. In either event
the horse may he famed 1t would be i'm
possible. | think. to shoe all the horses in
New York with the present number Of
shoes II II law forbidding hot shoes should
be enacted, and l think the law is not
called for. ~