PICKER
.—A horse-picker is a small iron instrument, so truly convenient upon many emergencies, that a prudent traveller, or experienced sportsman, is hardly ever seen without one annexed to the handle of a knife which he carries in his pocket: its use is to extract stones, pebbles, or flints, from the bottom of the foot, when they are picked up in hunting, or upon the road. They are sometimes so firmly fixed between the inner edge of the SHOE and the FROG, that nothing but very violent force with a hammer can remove them; in such cases, horses are sometimes led a considerable distance to some dwelling-house, before the stone can be extracted; and the foot is probably bruised, or sustains a serious injury, for what might be obtained at a trifling expence, and carried with little inconvenience.