animal and master, and so he tried to do without them. He succeeded in cutting them down to their smallest size; and only his fear of hard roads—that bête noire of the multitude—hindered him from arriving at the point of his ambition.
The following extract is taken from a letter signed ‘A Cavalry Officer,’ which appeared in the ‘Daily Telegraph,’ of December 28, 1878. ’If people tear off shoes, and put horses to work, or else turn them to grass, they will fail. In such experiments it is not the theory that has failed, but that it has not been put to a practical test. I know a pony over twenty years of age that has never been shod, and has all its life been accustomed to be galloped about by children on the hard roads. I have, myself, kept my horses shod with tips only, for eight and ten months together, using them on hard roads and paved streets, and keeping them, when in the stable, standing on granite-paved stalls, without litter under them, except by night. I found the horn tougher, weak heels grow stronger, brittleness of hoof disappear, and I never had a foot-lame horse during the time named. I am satisfied that the way to improve horses’ feet is not by turning them out in boggy meadows, but by removing their shoes, and standing them on paved flooring. That a diversity of opinion exists upon such matters amongst veterinary surgeons I am well aware; but I know some who have served both at home, in India, and elsewhere with their regiments, and who approve my suggestions. I have heard another gravely insist
