Connecticut western news., 1890-06-11
FARM, FIELD AND GARDEN.
SUBJECTS OF INTEREST TO PRO
 GRESSlVE CULTIVATORS.

Should Our Horses Be Shod?-Ideas Ad-
 Subject Which Do Not Agree with Those
 Commonly Entertained.
 Use and wont have so accustomed us to shod horses that it will appear to many to be absurd to discuss the prac- tice. But it is not by any means the first time that the wisdom of mailing an iron shoe on the hoof of horse has been called in question. Some years ago the matter was hotly debated, when the ad. vocates of the shoeless system came in for the abuse usually awarded to the pioneers in any reform. The Royal So- ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also gaveit out that they would prosecute any one who rode or drove horse without shoes, being convinced that it would be piece of cruelty to do so. There are, however, it would ap- pear from the Pall Mall Budget, not a few English owners of horses who have converted the theory into practice. Fol. lowing are some instances cited:
 A doctor in considerable practice in the north of London has been driving one of his horses for nearly year past without shoes, and his experience con. firms in the fullest degree the views oi the Rev. J. G. Wood, as set out in his book on "Horse and Man," perusal oi which induced him to make the expert. ment. When the shoes were first re. moved the hoofs were soft, and in order that they might harden and so return to their natural condition, the horse wal kept on hard floor in the stable for three months. That is costly but nee. essary preparation where shoes have been used, but later economies will more than balance the account. At the close of the period named he was put to work and notwithstanding the tear and wear in all weathers and on hard and soft roads indiscriminately, the hoofs are to- day perfectly sound.
 Frost makes no difference to the sure footedness of the unshod animal, and while the horses of brother practitioners were confined to the stable owing to the slippery condition of the roads, he went his rounds with absolute safety. This is 8 clear demonstration that horse can do traction work without shoes with dis tinct advantage both to the animal and the owner, and the Rev. J. G. Wood contends that it can do saddle work also better than when shod on any description of road. Veterinary surgeons, farriers and grooms may be skeptical, but prac- tice is better than theory. The follow ing are the advantages which one of the authors correspondents sets out as the result of his personal experience:
 1. Five or six pounds per annum are saved by non-shoeing, including the frost nails in winter.
 3. Gan gallop on road covered with ice, when other horses are not safe, even with the use of frost nails
 8. The weight of the shoes is taken of the feet, which is considerable help to the horse.
 4. The foot, being flat from the frog and down to the ground, leaves no re- ceptacle for stones.
 6. There is none of the unnecessary jar caused by the shoes, so that the horse travels freer and lighter.
 The doctors groom, who is an enthusi- astic convert to the new system, not only confirms these advantages, but claims that the animal is saved from vari- ous diseases of the foot caused by shoe ing, while it's surefootedness is most re- markable. It steps high and goes we'll, and at the end of days work it's feet aro rorfocf1v coo1