The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-03-22


Than Thoss OF Work Horses.
A work horses shoes cost a good deal
more than its 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 ordinarily shod once a
month at a cost of 81. so. SO that the
work horses shoes are likely to cost
$50 year anyway, and there may be
some additional expense for sharpening
and resetting.
Sharpening costs $3.50. Whether this
is necessary or not depends, of course,
primarily upon the weather. 1t may de-
pend 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 even when the going
is slippery. Such going may come about
suddenly and unexpectedly, and it may
be of brief duration. and then there are
drivers who under ordinary circum-
stances take the risk of the greater cost
of a broken shaft or an injured animal
to save the cost of sharpening OF work
more than half have their shoes sharp
ened when the going is slippery. There
are some, however, whose shoes are al
most all kept sharpened at such times
these being the horses that work at
night and i'll the early morning before
the sun has softened the ice or melted
it away. These include horses driven
to milk wagons, bakers horses, and so
on, how often the shoes are sharpened
depending on the going.
Usually when a horse is shod he is
shod all around. Sometimes there is &C.
casion to put ON single shoe, as when
horse throws a shoe. The cost of a
single new shoe is one-fourth the cost
of set-in the case of a work horse 90
cents. The charge for resetting the old
shoe would be 30 cents. Resetting in
general, from one shoe up, costs about
one-half, or a little more than half as
much as fitting 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. 1t is suitable and it fits
If it has not been picked up, then a
slipper is put on from the pile in the
shop, slipper being the shop name of
the worn shoe taken off and thrown
aside when horse is reshod
Horses have peculiarities in wearing
their Shoes just as men do Some wear
them off more at the toe, some more ut
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 on asphalt and |
the greatly increased use of asphalt |
pavement has led to correspondingly
increased use of rubber pads in horses |
shoes to give the horses better foot. !
hold. Rubber pads, as we'll as the shoes, |
are fitted TO the horse foot and nailed |
on with the shoe. Shoes with rubber |
pads Of this kind for work horses cost,
put on, 81 or 50 set. They are likely |
to wear longer than shoes without pads, !
set at tho end OF month The necessi- |
ty for reshoeing the horse at intervals !
Of about a month is due in a considera- |
BILE degree to the natural growth of the !
horse s hoofs, which require trimming |
or other attention about once in so |
often. In the case Of iron shoes, at the |
end Of a 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, |
1t they are not too much worn, they are !
reset, and this may be done in perhaps |
40 or 80 per cent of the cases. Some |
times the old shoes may be put back |
with new pads, sometimes the old pads |
with new shoes. 1t depends 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 I
not so much greater.
The price charged for shoeihg a pri. |
vate coach or carriage horse is 81 more |
than for shoeing a work horse, or So. 80,
and rubber pad shoes, such as those de-
scribed, for carriage horses cost So or sc |
a set. Such horses are reshod ordinarily, |
like most horses, once a month, and as
a rule their shoes are also reset in the |
middle of the month. And the shoes Of |
private carriage horses are more com.
monty kept sharpened in slippery wealth
er than are those Of work horses Wom-
en- are more likely to be disturbed by |
the slipping of horse than "a man
would be, and the carriage 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 horse, either car
riage horse or a work horse, would be
according to the time required rather
than by the job, as, for example, in
the case of 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 So
for "A sinole shoe -Ney York SIM