Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1893-11-04
TRurh ABOUT ALUMINIUM SHOES.
What Kind of Horses They Are Best Adapt

What Kind of II orses They Are Best Adapt
ed To.
copy from the San Francisco Exam
liner, June A: Samuel Gamble, well
known as an authority in trotting horse
literature, said aluminium is a big sue
cess in shoeing horses. The best way to
show you what | think is to tell you
what did. Last year some shoes were
sent from the east to be used on SIAM
boul. Owing 10 SO much advice of a
contradictory character it was decided
that Stamboul should not have them. |
put them on Alta Belle, brood mare
with bad leg. 1t seemed to be just
what she wanted, for at first trial she
went half in 1:10. which was much
better than she had ever done before.
She went the three-quarters in 1:48. No
body ever dreamed she could do that
well. She had great knee action, and
the light shoes supplied what she needed
in the way of protection to the hoof with
out making battering ram of the foot.
with the kind of material that had
on Alta Belle | should make II ounce
hind shoe take the place of 0 ounce iron
or steel shoe, and 81 ounce forward
supplied all the requirements of 10
ounce shoe of the ordinary metal. Idon't
think there will be any complaint about
the wearing quality of aluminium. We
used Alta Belle as buggy animal and
drove her almost every day on almost
every kind of road, and her aluminium
shoes lasted in good shape for month.
/ don't see what you want better than
that"
There is the whole story. The light
shoe makes it easier for the foot, as
there is SO much less pounding, as there
is SO much less weight to pound, and the
horse can go faster and easier, there
is so much less weight to carry at the
end of the long levers-the legs. In a
former communication | showed that
Smusgler at a 2:154 gait, with his A
pounds and 10 ounces of shoes, actually
used over three-fifths of a horsepower i'll
moving his shoes alone. Now, had Alta
Belle, as she was shod, gone the same
speed, the horsepower used to move her
shoes would have been a little over one
eleventh of Il horsepower, or one man
power.
Will it not pay to try the light shoes
on most of the nonoats winners? How
much value to any horse would be added
if five seconds could be taken off his
time and he could repeat it by putting
on him four and two ounce shoes? And
if he wore out the shoes in a week, and
they had to be renewed every week, the
extra cost and trouble would be so small
in the big account of expenses that it is
worth trial on every ''nonwinner.
Iron OF soft steel shoes above a ounces
can be and are made and answer, but
below that there is not substance enough
to protect the foot in the heavy metal.
But a four ounce shoe of aluminium is
the same size as an iron shoe of 10 ounces
weight and will cover and protect exact
ly as much of the hoof as the heavier
shoe, while the blow struck by the foot
and shoe is only one-third as heavy and
the load to carry only one-third as much
The wearing quality of the best alumni
ium alloy properly made into shoe is
from one half to two-thirds of an iron
shoe, depending ON the horse. The horse
with excessive knee action will wear
shoes and legs out faster than a daisy
cutter" Aluminium horseshoes for work
ing horses will never be a success, but
for saddle horses and fast trotters and
PAGERS they are sure to be the thing and
are as much of speed improver as the
bicycle sulky.-John w. Sutton in
Horseman.