Many stablemen, especially those employed in livery stables, are very careless as to the state of the horse's feet and his shoes. The shoes are often worn till they drop off in the middle of a journey, and time is lost, the foot broken or destroyed, and very likely the horse lamed. This is not the only evil. If the horse be doing little work, or be very light on his shoes, they may remain on too long. Fast-working horses require to have the feet pared down once every month, whether they need new shoes or not. When the horn is permitted to accumulate, the horse's action is fettered; he can not step out; he can not place his foot firmly on the ground, and he is very liable to corns. If he had no shoes, the horn would be worn away faster than it could be replaced, but the shoe prevents nearly all wear, and does not stop the growth. Hence at certain intervals the superfluous horn must be pared away. A month is the usual time. Some horses having a deficiency of horn, may go five weeks or more; while others that wear their shoes very fast, may require a new set every three weeks. Farm-horses often go for six or eight weeks with one set of shoes. If the heels be strong they may not be injured by this. Their work is different, and their feet are different.

If the shoes of fast-workers are not worn out at the end of a month, the feet should be pared, and the old shoes can be replaced. When the heels are weak, or the seat of corns, the shoes may require removal every three weeks.

The shoe and its mode of application must always vary according to the horse's weight and action, the state of his foot, the rate at which he travels, the state of the road, and he nature of his work in reference to carrying, drawing, and leaping. To shoe horses properly, all or the most of these circumstances have to be considered. But this is not the place to describe either the kind of shoe, or the mode of applying it. In general, both should be left to the smith. He knows little about his business if he requires instructions from his employer. Those who work in large towns and have much to do, know all the books from which an employer derives that which he would teach.

The shoes should be examined when the horse comes from his work, and again when he is going to it. If there be a loose or broken nail, or a clench started, or if the horse be cutting, let the smith be called at once.

The Unshod Feet of Colts are often neglected. Some colts contract thrushes before they are stabled; without looking for them occasionally, they may do much mischief before they are discovered by accident. They ought not to be neglected a single day. Others, especially those that do not stand very well on their legs, frequently wear down the inside of the foot so much more than the outside, that the limbs become more and permanently distorted. The feet should be dressed every five or six weeks.

Horses standing in Loose-Boxes, as stallions, hunters, and racers, often are, for several successive weeks, frequently have their shoes taken off. This is seldom a good practice, but much depends upon the floor of the loose-box, if paved, and not completely covered with litter, the bare feet are almost sure to receive injury. Pieces of the horn are broken off, or the toe is worn down by pawing and scraping, to which idle horses are much addicted. If the horse were to stand here for twelve months, his feet in that time would become tougher and more solid; but in the first three or four months they are injured more than improved. The horse is wanted before improvement has begun. If his foot be contracted, it may be expanded a little by letting him stand unshod; but the floor must be soft and damp, or moist. If the sole be thin and flat, yet strong enough to bear the horse's weight, it will receive more support when the shoe is off than when it is on. It will be less likely to descend farther. But the floor must be such that it will press equally upon every part of the sole. If a clay floor be improper, the box may be laid with tanner's bark.

Saw-dust, when in sufficient quantity, and frequently changed, answers very well for a thin sole, and fine sand has been employed for the same purpose. Short, soft litter, however, may supply the place of either. All that is wanted is gentle and uniform pressure. A contracted foot may require moisture, which may be given apart, in the clay-box, or by means of swabs. Racers often have the hoof much broken, and with no spare horn at the time they go into loose-boxes. Further injury may be prevented by putting on narrow shoes, like racing-plates, which save the crust, and permit the sole to receive all the benefit of support, which a common shoe in some measure prevents.

In the Straw-Yard, a flat foot is sometimes injured by excess of moisture, and thrushes always spread in this place.

When horses with such feet must go to a straw-yard, they ought previously to be shod with leather soles. All the ground surface of the foot may be covered with a piece of bend-leather, upon the top of which the shoe is nailed. To exclude the dirt and moisture, the sole must be stopped with tow and pitch, composed of tar and rosin melted together, and run in hot. Greasy stopping is never so good. [All this is of more than doubtful utility; and experience shows it to be at least useless in all cases, and dangerous in many.]