Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-07-08
THE HORSES SHOES.
HOW OFTEN THEY NEED REPlEN-
ISHlNG AND WHAT THEY COST.

Resetting Old Shoes Costs About Half rs
Much as New Ones-The Use of Rubber
Pads-Carriage Horses Shoes Cost More
Than Those of Work Horses.
a work horse's shoes cost 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 So. 90, so that tho
work horses shoes are likely to cost
$50 year anyway, and there may be
some additional expense for sharpening
and resettiIg.
Sharpening costs S1.5O. 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 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 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 in 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.
caslon to put on single shoe, as when
horse throws a shoe. The cost of a
single new shoe is one-fourth the cost
of a set-in the case of a work horse SO
cents. The charge for reseuting the old
shoe would be 80 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
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 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 ON asphalt, and
the greatly increased use of asphalt
pavement has led to correspondingly
increased use of rubber pads in horses
shoes to give tho horses a better foot
hold. Rubber pads, as well 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 So a set. They are likely
to wear longer than shoes without pads,
but they are commonly replaced or re-
set at tho end OF a month. The necessi-
ty for reshoeing the horse at intervals
of about month is due in a ccnsidera-
BILE degree to the natural growth of the
horses 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,
if they are not too much worn, they are
reset, and this may be done in perhaps
40 or 90 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 i'll 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 shooting pri-
vate coach or carriage horse is 81 more
than for shOeing a work horse, or So. so,
and rubber pad shoes, such as those de- |
scribed, for carriage horses cost So or So |
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 l.!
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 shooting a horse, either a 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 a lame horse. in shooting |
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 single shoe New York Sun.