Rational Horse-Shoeing

Rational Horse-Shoeing, by John
E. Russell

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Title: Rational Horse-Shoeing
Author: John E. Russell

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Language: English
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RATIONAL HORSE-SHOEING.
by
WILDAIR.

PREFIX.
Since the publication of this little volume we have made changes in our
horse shoe with a view to adapt it especially to Army use. Our design
has been to make a shoe that any Army farrier can apply in a cold state
without the use of any other tool than a knife to prepare the hoof, and a
hammer to drive the nails. Our success in this attempt has been so
complete that we are now using the pattern designed especially for
Army use in all our contract work.
The shoe is rolled without a heel calk, so that the frog-pressure may be
readily secured without heating and drawing the iron:--the nail holes
are punched so that the nail furnished by us with the shoe may be
driven, without the use of the pritchel to punch out the holes. The shoe,
being made of the best quality of iron, may be bent cold to adapt it to
the shape of the hoof.
Officers will at once see what a vast saving there is in the transportation

of shoes--requiring no forge with its heavy outfit--and which are less
than half the weight of the clumsy old patterns.

[Illustration: THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH.]

RATIONAL HORSE-SHOEING.
by
WILDAIR.
With Illustrations.

New York: Published by Wynkoop and Hallenbeck, No. 113 Fulton
Street. 1873.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by Wynkoop
& Hallenbeck, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at
Washington.

INTRODUCTION.
In presenting the observations contained in the following pages, we are
aware that we appeal to practical men who judge by results, and have
but slight patience with mere theory. We wish, therefore, to state
clearly at the outset, that the system of horse-shoeing herein advocated,
and the shoe offered by us to accompany it and accomplish its purpose,
are the result of years of patient study of nature, and actual experiment;
and that although we have had to contend with ignorance and interest
on the part of the farriers, and indifference and prejudice on the part of
owners of horses, we have finally succeeded in interesting the most
practical and capable men in America, England, and France in the
matter; and, at the time of this publication, thousands of horses,

engaged in the most arduous labors of equine life--upon railways,
express wagons, transfer companies, and other similar difficult
positions--are traveling upon our shoes, their labors lightened by its
assistance, their feet preserved in a natural, healthy state, and their lives
prolonged to the profit of their owners and the advancement of that
cause--one of the evidences of the progress of our age in true
enlightenment--which has for its beneficent object the prevention of
cruelty to the dumb and helpless companions of our toil.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
The first application of the Goodenough shoe is almost invariably to
the feet of horses suffering from some one of the forms of foot disease,
induced by the unnatural method of shoeing. Our system is intended for
sound horses, to supply the necessary protection to the feet, and to keep
them in a healthy condition. Our rules for shoeing, embodied in our
circular of instructions, are applicable to sound horses, and disease
must be provided for as exceptional.
Men are careless and, as a rule, unobservant; they go on in the old way
until the horse flinches in action or stands "pointing" in dumb appeal to
his owner, telling with mute but touching eloquence of his tight-ironed,
feverish foot, the dead frog, and the insidious disease, soon to destroy
the free action characteristic of health. It is when this evidence brings
the truth home to him that the neglectful master, eager to relieve the
animal, tries our system. To such masters we must say, do not expect
that the imprudence and neglect of years can be remedied