SHOEING OF HORSES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 130, 1 March 1940, Page 6

SHOEING OF HORSES

NEED FOR MORE CARE VETERAN FARRIERS ADVICE A farrier who has had 32 years in the trade and served four years with the A.I.F. L.ight liorse as farrier sergeant, and is still trying to sustain the art under difficulties, contributes an interesting article to a Melbourne paper. One of the main troubles, he states, is the lack of horse sense among horse users, many of whom prefer to sacrifice the most faithful of horses to their motor car needs —buying petrol in preference to shoeing a horse. They neglect the shoeing until it is absolutely necessary, or otherwise allow the shoes to remain on so long that the horses suffer all kinds of deformities and pain which no farrier, no matter how skilled, can correct. City and country users are equal offenders. Regarding defective machinemade shoes, any thorough tradesman can fit and alter these shoes to suit the average horse except when the shoes are exceptionally faulty. It takes years to make a farrier, but youths can learn to use a machine in a few days. Racehorses and trotters provide a special line of farricring, but the same rules apply. I have had experience at both and, to my mind, there is a very wide field foi improvement, to which the Society for the Protection of Animals should give attention. Horses shonWl not be worked on tarred roads without shoes made to grip such surfaces. tln America and l\ng : and shoes with I'n st nails and oilier devices are compulsory.