The Penn's Grove record., 1886-06-05
Shooting THE KICKERs.
A Blacksmith Explains the Intrica'
cies of the Trade.

large horse between his legs before an
Swering the question, and bending the
toe till it nearly touched the forelock,
replied: ''This is the first thing we try
as being the handiest remedy we have
in the shop. We just twist the toe up
in this manner and it tightens the mus
cles of the leg until the horse can't
move. 1t is the pain that makes HIM
docile. He stands there patiently after
that and takes the nails like an old pine
board.
"Ifthisd don't work Thoughts it often
does not with horses from the country
we have another remedy. Do you see
that 'twitch' yonder?n
The blacksmith nodded his head to-
ward acarriage spoke dangling from the
wall with a piece of clotbes-line tied to
the end of it.
"That is the most magical thing in
horse-shoeing you eve saw. We wrap
that rope around the beasts upper lip
and a man stands continually at his
head holding the spoke. The latter is
used as a jack-screw. Every time the
brute kicks a new turn is taken in the
clothes-line until the beast gets as much
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never lasts long. After a few turns the
most obstreperous kicker is knocked out.
The pain at his nose draws his attention
away from his feet so completely that L
think you could cut his leg off and he
would not know it. Yes, sir; if it were
not for the twitch-simple as it ls-there
would be lots of horses unshod or black
smiths walking around with broken
heads. You may talk about twisting a
pigs tail or getting the bulge on an ele-
plant, but for bringing Il beast to his
senses this little device beats anything
that was yer made.
1.-THE worst horses to shoe entirely are
those that have what is known as blood
i'll them. Good stock will show itself in
a blacksmith shop every time. l was
shoeing Preakness several years ago and
was nawar of the fact until l had
wrestled with him several minutes. He
had cast a shoe while training at Pimli-
co and was brought to a shop in north
west Baltimore where l was employed.
The beast laid back his ears and stood
perfectly still until l had got hold of
him and was in the act of levellng his
hoof. Then he came down on me like
a sledgehammer with both his thighs.
His eyes flashed and he stripped his
teeth clear back to his jaw-joints. When
he felt me weaken, he drew back his leg
like a bowstring, and before | could re-
cover, sent me sprawling into the DIRT.
Luckily, there was no shoe on his o
at the time, or 1 might have received an
imprint that would have followed me to
my grave. l have several marks now
from horse-kicks all over my body. A
man is never a h%orseShoer until he has
the trade mark stamped upon his eoun-
tenance, they say.
SIN this part Of the city we shoe more
mules than any other kind of stock.
Sometimes we have as high as six in the
shop together. They doze and doze here
before the fire until q red-hot cinder
strikes one of them, or perhaps goes
down his ear. Then there is fun. 1t
would have been just as safe TO have
dropped a spark into a keg Of dynamite,
for a mule never stops kicking until
there is nothing left in his vicinity Tor
twenty-five feet all aronnd. l have seen
a mule glue his front feet down there to
that little hole in the pavement and feel
all round these rafters with his hind legs.
A mule will kick when you are looking
at him or kick when you are turning
away. 1t has always been the policy OF
blacksmiths never to trust the animal,
even when he is dead.
"Young horses are also very fiery,
but they generally come to terms after
receiving the second set of shoes. A
horses supreme intelligence soon teaches
him that the operation is performed for
his own good, and he submits to it. AT
first they have often to be led into a dis
tant part of the shop and a handkerchief
put over their eyes to shut out the
sparks. After a few lessons they become
accustomed to the sound of the anvil.
and it is hard to drive them past a shop
without letting them come in.
''The most difficult case to shoe ever
encountered was in Chester county,
PENNSYLVANIA, several years ago, A
man named Pugh had two mules that
he wanted shod. l was not working at
the business then, and the animals was
taken wei to the shop at the eross-road.
The first blacksmith who came out was
kicked three times before his body
struck the ground, and had both legs
broken. The two mules were driven
home and had to go all winter without
shoes. for there was no black smith in
the country who had courage enough to
shoe them. In the following spring the
owner built a crib around the bad mule
and hired a man from a nelghbor1ng
county to come down and shoe him.
The mule was tightly .wedged in be-
tween the bars of the crib when the
blacksmith came up. AT sight OF the
tool-box and the blacksmith's apron the
mule gave au unearthly yell and and pro-
ceeded to kick the rear end of the crib
away. One of his feet got through the
bars, and before he could extrlcate him.
self three farm hands had seized 1t, II
in a few minutes the blacksmith was
busy hammering OH the shoes. To put
on the remaining three was found to
be comparatively easy.
sometimes we have to string a
horse up if he unusually stubborn. Re
Gently we had a case here in which we
had to use that pulley up yonder. we
tie the rope around the leg below the
knee-ioint, pass it over the pulley and
draw it tight. The beast is thrown
forward on his front feet and rendered
helpless. His remaining hind leg Is
used to keep his body from falling. In
this predicament he becomes an easy
victim of the blacksmith.
Eyes, sir; it is not at all uncommon
to see a horse standing on two legs and
two blacksmitns pegging away at his re-
naming hoofs with all their might.
This saves time, you see. II We had a
hammock to swing under his belly we
could stick all four of his shoes ON at
the same time.
"Horseshoeing has its redeeming side,
although it is pretty dangerous. Our
pay is good; it is a healthy business, and
after one has worked at it a year or two
he comes to like it. Some men have a
knack of getting on good terms with a
horse at first sight. knew a man who
could overcome a horse just by looking
into his eyes and speaking to him
Others can never go near the hindquar-
tiers of a beast that has no blind on"
Tines white deer, said to be the
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