The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-01-16


horses feet. This ignorance is not con-
fined 10 any particular locality nor 20 a
single class of men having horses m
der their control. As a rule. the rich
man with his blue-blooded stock is no
wiser on this point than is the owner
of the drag or cart horse, but he will
look wise upon entering the shop with
his horse and at once begins TO die
tate TO the sheer, who served an ap-
premiership Of years learning his
trade, as TO the proper manner of par
ing the foot, fitting the shoe and ,iriv-
ing the nails. \ horse sheer needs no
such dictation. He need only be told
the trouble, if any there be, with the
horses gait, and if he is a mechanic
he will apply the proper remedy. Ad-
vice does not come amiss to the ''botch''
but he should be patroniZed only IN
der compulSion. The sheer is a spec
ialist, and learns something new con-
corning his calling almost every day
of business life in the shop. The sheer
of today, who clings to all the methods
of twenty-five years ago, is along way
behind the procession. Within that
time such great progress has been
made that horse shoeing has become
an art. a faulty gait or stride can be
remedied, and in most cases radically
cured if the horse is taken to a sheer
who devotes careful thought and study
to his trade, but improvement never
comes to the horse whose feet are in
trusted to the butchering methods of a
''botch." l believe l make a fair esti-
mate when l assert that nine-tenths of
the horse owners of the world do not
know that horse shoeing and black
smithing are two distinct trades, and
that to learn both a man must serve
two distinct apprenticeship In other
words, nine out of ten men think the
sign Blacksmith" over shop is an
indication that there is a horse sheer
within, but in the majority of cases
they are mistaken. The man who
irons" buggy, wagon or wheelbar-
row, has his square, tri-square, divi-
ders, straight-edge and other tools, by
which TO be guided in his work, but it
is not so with the horse sheer, who first
prepares the hoof properly, carries in
his eye a. picture of that hoof from the
horse to the anvil, and uses that pic
ture as a pattern by which to do his
work.
The term, Jack of all trades and
master of none," applies very aptly to
many who conduct blacksmith shops.
1 assert this fearlessly because l can
name many who never served an hours
apprenticeship at the trade but gained
their very limited experience while
tinkering on ranch or in lumber
camp. Six months at this and they
are found with sign in front of a shop
1st
pete successfully with mechanics. At
a given price they would get little to
do, and in order to get custom, will
work for fifty per cent. less than the
artisan, and to the shame of many
horse owners be it said, they are pa
tronized. A half-dollar reduction in
the price of shoeing horse catches the
average horse owner. He will jump at
it as does hungry trout at the Sc
ductive artificial fly of the angler,
and in the end is as badly worsted as
is the fish, for at the expiration Of
three months there is not a sound foot
under that horse. In these days Of
hard paved streets, a mechanics skill
is required to keep the hoof of the
horse in good condition, but ''botch'
can convert a sound hoof into mass
of corns, bruised heels and quarter and
toe cracks in less than three months.
1t is being done simply because horse
owners patronize those who do cheap
work.
Ny advice to all horse owners is, be-
ware of the man who soliclJs work at
a price less than that which you have
been having it done. He who offers
an inducement of that kind is not
mechanic. Cheap work is a synonym
for poor work, done with poor mater
ial, and in the end is the most eXpen-
sive A horse, if worth shoeing at all,
is worth being shod properly. Avoid
the cheap sheer and you avoid the
botch. Take your horse to the me-
chanic who asks only a fair remunera-
ton for his work and the results will
always be satisfactory, because your
horse will be ready to respond to ey-
cry reasonable task imposed upon him.
Never say to a sheer, Il want you
to drive bigger nails this time, the
shoes staid on but three months the
last time you shod him." The length
of time a shoe stays on is not an evil
dence of the skill of the sheer.
Let this artisan be the judge of the
size of nail to use. The shell OF the
hoof is often thicker and stronger on a
small than on a large horse, and the
sheer must use the nail best adapted
to his work Ten small nails will 10
less damage to a brittle hoof than seven
large ones and hold equally as well.
Don't growl if your sheer is mechan-
ic. when you see him driving the nails
high in a brittle hoof. He does it to
get a hold in the youngest part OF
the SHELL which is the toughest and
strongest, or to reach above bad
place into which it is useless to drive
a nail. The shell or wall of the
hoof is of uniform thickness from the
sole to within three quarters OF an
inch of the coronet and when nails are
driven high the holes can be used
second time.
No horse should be allowed to wear
his shoes over thirty days. The hoof