The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-10
THE HORSES SHOES.
Number of Sets Required in n Year,
and How Much They Cost.
New York Sun.


A work horses shoes cost good deal
more than it's drivers shoes do. Truck
horses, delivery wagon horses, and the great
number of horses used for various working
purposes, including many horses driven to
hacks and other public carriages, are or
dinarily shod once month at a cost of
$3.50, so that the work horses shoes are
likely to cost $50 a year anyway, and there
may be some additional expense for sharp
ening and resettng.
necessary or not depends, of course pri-
marily upon the weather; it may depend
much upon the time of day the horse is
driven. There may be seasons in which
sharpening is not necessary. Not all drivers
get the shoes of their horses sharpened,
ing may come about suddenly and unex-
pectedly, and 1t may be of brief duration:
and then there are drivers who, under or
binary circumstances, take the risk of the
greater cost of a broken shaft, or an injured
animal, to save the cost of sharpening. OF
work horses in general, probably something
more than half have their shoes Sharpened
when the going is slippery; there are some,
however, whose shoes are almost all kept
sharpened at such times. these being the
horses that work at night and in the early
morning before the sun has Softened the fee
or melted it away; these include horses
driven to milk wagons, bakers horses. and
depending on the going.
Usually when a horse is shod he is shod
put on single shoe. as when horse
throws a shoe. The cost of single new
shoe is one fourth the cost of a set; in the
case of a work horse. 6S cents. The charge
for resetting the old shoe would be IS cents.
Resetting in general, from one shoe up,
costs about one-half, or a little more than
half, as much as fitting a horse with new
shoes. In putting on a single shoe an old
shoe would commonly be used, to make it
match those remaining on. If it is not too
much worn the shoe the horse has cast
would be put back, if the driver picked it
up, it is suitable and 1t fits. If it has not
been picked up, then slipper is put on
nil n he
shop name of the worn shoe taken off and
thrown aside when a horse is reshod.
Horses have peculiarities in wearing their
shoes, just as men do. Some wear them
off more at the top. some more at the heel,
and some wear them more on one side than
on the other. Horses shoes wear off more
quickly on granite pavements than they do
asphalt, and the greatly increased use
of asphalt pavement has led to CORE
spondingly increased use Of rubber pads in
horses shoes to give the horses a better
foothold. Rubber pads as well as the shoes,
are fitted to TIE horses foot, and nailed on
with the shoe. Shoes with rubber pads of
this kind, for work horses, cost, put on 81
OF So a set. They are likely to wear longer
than shoes without pads, but they are com
month. The necessity for reshoeng the
horses at intervals of about a month is due
growth of the horses hoofs, which require
trimming or other attention about once in
so often.
month, when they are taken off they are
likely to be too much worn to go another
month, and new SHOES are put on. In the
case of rubber pad shoes, If they are not
too much worn, they are reset, and this
may be done in, perhaps, DO or so per cent.
of the cases. Sometimes the old shoes may
be put back with new pads, sometimes the
old pads with new shoes; it depends a good
deal on the manner in which the horse
wears them. So that while the first cost
of rubber pad shoes is considerably greater
than that of plain shoes, the net cost is not
so much greater.
The price charged for shoeing private
coach or carriage horse is a dollar more
than for shoeing a work horse, or $3.50,
and rubber pad shoes, such as those de-
scribed, for carriage horses, cost S. or IS
like most horses once a month, and, IS u
rule their shoes are also reset in the middle
of the month. And the shoes of private
carriage horses are more commonly kept
sharpened in slippery weather than are
those of work horses. Women are more
likely to be disturbed by the slipping of a
horse than man would be, and the car
riage horses are usually more valuable than
work horses, and less risk of injury is
taken.
In some cases it might be that the charge
for shoeing a horse either a carriage horse
or work horse, would be according to the
time required, rather than by the job as,
for example, in the case of a lame horse,
in shoeing which more than the usual time
would be needed. Shoes are made and fitted
to meet any requirement. and the cost might
be according TO the amount Of work and
time expended, from 81 TO S. for single
shoe.