The act itself being thus publicly seen in practice, and generally comprehended, it becomes only necessary (amidst the variety of speculative opinions lately obtruded upon public notice) to introduce such comparative reasoning, and practical proof, of the superior excellence and rational propriety of the execution, as may enable every reader to take an impartial survey of the different modes recommended, in doing which, he is then at liberty to adopt which ever he may be induced to think approaches the nearest to perfection.
Amidst the great variety of attracting novelties which issued from the press, after the publication of Taplin's Pattern Shoes, was "a concave shoe," most zealously recommended by the PROFESSOR of a public institution, since deceased; who, had he lived only a few weeks longer, would have received the most unequivocal proofs of the fallacy of the theory, when put into competition with the UNERRING criterion of PRACTICE: but happily for him, and luckily for his great and opulent friends, (who were daily and shamefully forsaking him,) he died just in time to save his reputation. Suffice it, therefore, in delicacy to his error, as well as to his memory, only to observe, that the SHOE passing under that denomination (having a smooth or flat inside to cover the foot, and a concave surface, to come in contact with the ground or pavement) was the very reverse of what it should be, and only calculated to render tender, if not cripple, any horse, if obstinately persevered in; as will be candidly admitted by every reader of rationality, when the representation of the FOOT, the form of the SHOE, and the setting on of that shoe, are taken into distinct and separate consideration.
To face Page 265. Vol. 2ᵈ. DEMONSTRATIVE SHOEING.
That this may be done with a more comprehensive and general effect, divested of SCIENTIFIC disquisition, or ANATOMICAL ambiguity, a Plate is annexed; which, with very little explanatory matter, will afford the most perfect and satisfactory elucidation. A is the representation of a sound, firm, well-formed HOOF, in a slate of unembellished nature: here is evidently no devastation required—no paring off at the heel—no slicing off from the sole—no cutting-knife at the toe; nor does it, with an eye of the strictest judgment and circumspection, seem to claim or solicit from the art of man, any other assistance, than protection against the injury it must inevitably sustain from harder bodies, when brought into use by constant collision. That this fair and candid investigation may be the less liable to miscontruction, and that cynical misrepresentation, or envious opposition, may not (even in the weakest minds) warp the effect of truth, let it be observed, that the circular line marked 1 is the line of articulation, or, in other words, the distinct line of separation; around which is the wall or crust of the HOOF, (in itself insensible,) where the bearing only should be, and where the figure 5 of E will be found accurately formed for its reception.
That part of the foot extending from the line of separation on one side, to the corresponding line of separation on the other, having the FROG in the center, and marked 2 on each side, is called the outer sole, covering a membranous mass, or substance, called the inner sole, which is of exquisite sensibility, requiring PROTECTION without pressure upon the external part; which it will be seen (by referring to the Plate) is sufficiently afforded by the concave formation at Fig. 6 of letter E, which, upon the accurate inspection of the best informed and most experienced investigators, must be admitted a shoe of the first perfection for the promotion of every good, and the prevention of every ill.
Having thus produced both foot and shoe, as unsullied representations of NATURE and ART, and adapted the make of one to the formation of the other, with a consistency no man of common comprehension will presume to dispute, we proceed to an impartial examination of the letter B, which represents the mode of SHOEING adopted, and some time persevered in, at a place of veterinary celebrity, upon the discontinuance of the very short-lived concave shoe.
As it is a remark of long standing, that the exterior strikes first, so we shall find here, that, upon a superficial survey of the letter B, there is a neatness in the execution, that seems to excite attention, and command respect; but when it is critically examined with the eye of precision, and its deficiencies pointed out, it then loses all power of permanent attraction, and will advance no well-founded claim to approbation or imitation. Admitting (as it is presumed no opposition whatever arises to the fact) that the wall of the FOOT represented by Fig. 1, should have its bearing upon the properly-adapted part of the shoe, ascertained by referring to Fig. 5 of E, and continued home to the extreme point of the heel accurately terminated by the Fig. 7 of C; let us see what would be the inevitable consequence of having the shoes an inch and a half too short at each heel, as represented by Fig. 3 of B, where NATURE, REASON, OBSERVATION, and EXPERIENCE, concentrate their whole force to demonstrate the consistency, the safety, in fact, the indispensible necessity, of its being continued to Fig. 4 of B, as is already explained by previous reference to Fig. 7 of C.
Convinced, therefore, beyond the shadow of doubt, (as every reader may by another reference to No. 1,) that the wall of the HOOF holds forth its own proof, that the shoe should be continued home to the extreme point of the heel, or that it requires no shoe at all; and this alternative being first understood, and then acceded to, by every comprehension, it will be equally clear, that as much as art falls short in the support which NATURE requires, proportional must the injury be, by the inevitable indentation; invariably productive of bruises, and tenderness upon the edge of the sole, thereby laying the foundation of preternatural stricture, corns, callosities, and other ills, which would be more perfectly understood by an examination of any such subject, after a shoe one third too short had been eight or ten days in constant wear.
By way of concluding observations upon the Plate, and its purpose, it becomes only necessary to remark, that the letter C is the hoof of a large saddle or carriage horse, well covered for the pavement of the METROPOLIS, or travelling upon the turnpike-road. That the letter B is a perfect model of good shoeing for HUNTER or HACKNEY, provided the heel of the shoe was continued to Fig. 4, instead of terminating at 3. That Fig. 8 is called the web of the SHOE, which is, in fact, no more than the whole breadth of the iron, and may be widened, or narrowed, entirely by the judgment of the SMITH, or the discretion of the OWNER. That Fig. 9 is the cavity called the groove, or fullering, to receive the heads of the nails, above which (in SHOEING of EXCELLENCE, and superiority) they should never constitute a prominence; and that the letter D is no more than a back view of the short shoe, for some time so powerfully recommended, which has already most deservedly fallen into disrepute.