West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-06-26
UNSHOO HORSES.

An Experiment Often Tired. aud Always
without Success.
Ii seems somewhat strange that 1t-
cause few men try to save the expense
OF >hocmg that SO many others should
think aga ESt theirOw common sense.
whether 1t i possible TO use horses
without shoes or not. and many have
made their horses suffer pain trying the
experiment In nearly every part OF
tho world where horses are used the at.
tempt has been made without success.
cNcept in countries like Algeria, where
the ground is sandy and soft, Not
outstanding the fact that it has been
proved 10 all intentS ana purposes that
horses must be shod people still try to
work them without shoes and make
the unfortunate animal that happens
To be the property suffer needless
pain. While horses suffer without
shoes, il is TO be feared that with them
they often have TO bear much pain
through the carclcssneSs of the black
SIN tbs. As general rule there is too
much iron put i'm the shoes, and. what
lH worse, the foot is often made TO fit
the shoe, instead of the shoe fitting The
foot While the foot is protected by
the shoes the Joints have 10 bear the
conclusion used by the hard metpl
and the ground meeting at the force
they do, and promising young horses
often turn lame from navicular an
other d seas's from this fact A new
style OF shoeing has been tried and
found 10 be a great Improvement; but
~ Al
the present style of shooting is to some
extent wrong, are 10th to try anything
new.
The wall of the foot is really the only
part that requires protection, and why
Is 1t ncccs ,ary to cover half of the foot
with ron? When horse is turned out
into pasture for any length of time "A
careful owner will generally have tins
put on, or a narrow piece of iron put
halfway round the front of the hoof
This prevents the wall from being
broken away, as it often is when tie
ground is hard, and when the animal
Is brought in again the foot is found to
be sound, the frog has become plant
and considerable expansion is to be no
t!ccd ut the heels. The frog, there is
no doubt, was meant by nature to save
conclusion and prevent slipping. Why
can not 1t be used on the hard and slip
perry roads? This has been tried, and
with great success. and the shoes that
are used last much longer than the ones
used at present and save the horses
legs to greater extent. The shoe is
let into the wall and round the sole of
the hOof TO within. two inches of the
heel and the frog is allowed to come i'm
contact with the ground. 1t has been
used on both carriage and draught
horses in some of the largest cities in
the world, but has not become gener-
ally known, owing TO the fact that
blacksmlths as rule object TO give up
their old style for new one that they
fancy not so profitable and difficult to
learn.
The frog in its natural state is soft
and like rubber, and if the knife is kept
away from il it will become of great
benefit on slippery roads and do away
with the most injurious things OF ali.
"corkng' or heels" Lameness is
often caused by contracted heels pro-
duccd by careless shooting. and if more
owners would only go TO the shoeing
shop and see that shoes are made to tit.
the noble animal that not only gives
them pleasure, but also puts money
into their pockets, would be saved
many weeks of unnecessary torture.
Kansas cry JOUrHal.