With the passing of colthood, and the coming into effect of the evils of
further domestication, the troubles to which the foot is open become more
numerous. Foremost among them will come those having their starting-point
in errors of practice originating in the forge; for, in spite of attempts
at their education, smiths, as a class, are as yet grievously unversed in
even the elementary knowledge of the delicate construction of the member
that is entrusted to their care.

This fact has been dilated on in books devoted to shoeing, and in the
prefatory note to the last edition of Fleming's manual on this subject we
find the following statement: 'The records of all humane societies show
that, of prosecutions for cruelty to animals, an overwhelming majority
refer to the horse; and of these, a large proportion are for working horses
while suffering from lameness in one form or other.

'So frequent are such cases that observers have concluded that their
prevalence must result from some specific cause, and, not unnaturally,
attention has thus been directed to the various modes of management
practised in relation to the horse's foot, to the manner of shoeing, and,
in particular, to the way in which the foot is prepared for the shoe.'

It must be remembered, however, that although harm in the forge may
frequently arise from culpable roughness or carelessness, such is not
necessarily always the case, and that quite as much injury may result from
careful and conscientious workmanship when it is unfortunate enough to be
based upon principles wrong in themselves to commence with.

It so happens, too, that shoeing, in itself a necessary evil, may be
responsible for injuries in the causation of which the smith can have