lly looked
to and kept soft with soap (sabon) or dubbing (momrogan), are liable to
cut horses badly. The only care required in putting on the Irish boot is
not to tie it too tight, or the tapes may cut the skin. Some pieces of
horn hanging loose, that are being cast off from the sole and frog in the
natural process of growth, are often seen. These are very likely to
collect dirt and moisture, and if they do they should be removed, but
otherwise be left alone. They can generally be pulled off with the
fingers, a piece of stick, or the hoof-picker. As a rule, in the plains of
India the majority of horses do not require shoes on their hind feet,
unless the roads are mended with stone, or the climate is very damp and
the horn gets soft. In the rainy season, if much work is being done, they
perhaps then require shoeing behind, but in the dry season the majority go
just as well without. In the hills, where the paths are rocky and stony,
horses, of course, require shoeing behind. Unlike the European, the native
smith shoes what is called "cold," that is, he has a number of shoes in
sizes from which he selects one as near a fit as possible, which he
hammers into shape on a small anvil without heating it. Native shoes are
generally perfectly plain, _i.e._ flat on both sides, and, unless
specially made, are never "seated," _i.e._ sloped on the foot surface, or
"bevelled," _i.e._ sloped on the ground surface. As a rule, the nail-holes
are what the smith calls too fine, _i.e._ they are too near the outer rim
of the iron, and to get a hold the shoe has to be brought back so that the
horn projects over the iron. To obviate this the smith removes the toe
with the rasp, thus weakening the horn at the very place where it is
required to be strong. The shoes are generally somewhat too small also,
and to get the nail to take hold they have to be set back in the same way
as when the nail-holes are too fine. A native smith, unless he has been
shown how, never knows how to turn down the point of the nail after it has
been driven through the hoof to form the clench; he never cuts off the
superfluous part, but turns it round in a curl with the pincers, and,
needless to say, this is exceedingly likely to cause brushing. Another
great fault is his fondness of pairing and slicing away the frog and sole,
which he will have to be stopped in doing. I have seldom seen a horse
pricked in shoeing by a native, but if left to themselves they never get
the b