Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/636

CHAPTER XIV.

importance of shoeing to civilization. the greeks and romans. inconveniences attending the employment of unshod animals. roads and cities. manual labour. introduction of shoeing and its effects. various breeds of horses. changes in the art of war. increase in cavalry. armour. riding double. heavy equipment. increasing importance of shoeing. examples. napoleon's retreat from moscow. danish retreat from schleswig. farriers' strike in paris.

Thus far, then, have we endeavoured to trace the history of horse-shoes and horse-shoeing. We have seen that there is not sufficient evidence to testify that the Greeks and some other ancient races whom we may designate 'horse-loving,' employed an iron defence nailed to the feet of their solipeds; that, though the Romans of a comparatively later age must have, to some extent, been aware of, and perhaps practised, this art, yet their writers do not mention it; and, from the testimonies before us, we might almost be inclined to conclude that the Romans only resorted to it in those countries which they had invaded or conquered, and where they already found it in use; that shoeing with iron plates and nails was known to some, at any rate, of the Celtic and Germanic tribes settled in the West probably long before our era; and