The Brighton Day Mail being about to start

The Brighton Day Mail being about to start

The Brighton Day Mail being about to start

Not long after this interview, the Brighton Day Mail being about to start, he made me the offer, to drive the whole distance and horse the coach a stage, with the option of driving it without horsing. Like most young men I was rather ambitious, and closed with the former conditions. The speculation, however, did not turn out a very profitable one, and, the railway making great progress, I sold my horses to Mr. Richard Cooper, who was to succeed me on the box. I was then offered the far-famed Exeter Telegraph, one of the fastest and best-appointed coaches in England. My fondness for coaching still continuing, and not feeling disposed to settle to any business, I drove this coach from Exeter to Ilminster and back, a distance of sixty-six miles, early in the morning and late at night. After driving it three years, the railway opened to Bridgewater; this closed the career of the once-celebrated Telegraph. But those who had so long shared its success, were not inclined to knock under. My brother coachman and myself, together with the two guards, accordingly started a Telegraph from Devonport to London, a distance of ninety-five miles by road, joining the rail at Bridgewater, thus making the whole journey two hundred and fifty miles in one day. At that time there was a coach called the Nonpareil, running from Devonport to Bristol.

I applied for a change to my employer

I applied for a change to my employer

I applied for a change to my employer

Getting at length rather tired of such incessant and monotonous nightly work, I applied for a change to my employer, the well-known and much-respected Mr. Chaplin, who at that time had seventeen hundred horses employed in coaching. His reply was characteristic. I cannot find you all day coaches, said he; besides, who am I to get to drive your Mail? I must say, I thought this rather severe at the time, but, good and kind-hearted man as he was, he did not forget me.

My father was a coach proprietor as well as a coachman

My father was a coach proprietor as well as a coachman

My father was a coach proprietor as well as a coachman

My father was a coach proprietor as well as a coachman, and, I am proud to say, one of the best whips of his day. He gave me many opportunities of driving a team. I will not, however, enter into all the details of my youthful career, but proceed to state, that at the early age of seventeen I was sent nightly with the Norwich and Ipswich Mail as far as Colchester, a distance of fifty-two miles. Never having previously travelled beyond Whitechapel Church, on that line of road, the change was rather trying for a beginner. But Fortune favoured me; and I drove His Majesty’s Mail for nearly five years without an accident. I was then promoted to the Quicksilver, Devonport Mail, the fastest at that time out of London. It must be admitted that I undertook this task under difficult circumstances involving as it did, sixty miles a night since many had tried it ineffectually, or at all events were unable to accomplish the duty satisfactorily. It is gratifying to me to reflect, that I drove this coach more than seven years without a single mishap.

Hints on Driving.

Hints on Driving.

Hints on Driving.
By C. S. Ward,
The well-known whip of the west,
Paxton Stables (opposite Tattersall’s).

It has been said, and not, perhaps, without reason, that a man who is conscious that he possesses some practical knowledge of a science, and yet refrains from giving the public the benefit of his information, is open to the imputation of selfishness. To avoid that charge, as far as lies in my power, I purpose, in the course of the following pages, to give my readers the benefit of my tolerably long experience in the art of driving four horses an art which I acquired under the following circumstances.

A cure of any foot disease we have described

A cure of any foot disease we have described

A cure of any foot disease we have described

A cure of any foot disease we have described, will be much more rapidly effected if the horse has his regular work upon the roads or pavements to which he is accustomed, no matter how hard they are.

We hope that it has also been noticed, that we do not propose to cure spavins, splints, navicular disease, or to restore the natural action of a horse where ossification of cartilage is well established.

Regular Work. We do not propose to lay up horses.

Regular Work. We do not propose to lay up horses.

Regular Work.

We wish all readers of this book to understand that the directions herein given for shoeing apply to horses whose owners expect them to work regularly after shoeing from the very hour in which the shoes are set.

We do not propose to "lay up" horses, or to put them to rest in "loose boxes," nor yet to "turn them out to grass." One of the chief difficulties we have had with wealthy owners has been from the tendency to keep the horse out of work when we have got him into a condition where we want exercise to stimulate the alterative process we propose.

And the mortal born of earth and sea

And the mortal born of earth and sea

And the mortal born of earth and sea

This contest between the god, and the mortal born of earth and sea, is the poetical type of the unceasing toil of man in the Valley of the Nile, against the sandy waves of the Lybian desert, always encroaching upon the cultivated soil, and demanding year by year new exertions to repress their advance.

So, in our attempt to establish a better system of utilizing the powers of the horse in the service of man, we have each day to meet the same enemy, renewed by contact with the sources that foster and reinforce ignorance. But as persistent labor conducted the beneficent waters of the Nile in irrigating channels through the arid plain of the desert, until upon the inhospitable edge gardens bloomed, fields of grain waved in the breeze, and the date-palm cast its grateful shade upon the husbandman so we make healthful progress, and enjoy a widely increasing triple reward first, in the thankful esteem of our fellow men; secondly, in the relief we afford to a noble animal; and last, in the substantial return which the highest authority has adjudged to honest labor.

These contend under the prestige of a thousand years of possession

These contend under the prestige of a thousand years of possession

These contend under the prestige of a thousand years of possession

We attack with slender array, but unflinching purpose, the gloomy powers of ignorance that are allied to doubt and indifference. These contend under the prestige of a thousand years of possession.

Ignorance and Prejudice are twin giants that renew their life upon each other; they are as old as chaos, and are invulnerable to the weapons of ordinary warfare. Like the fallen angels, they are

"Vital in every part,
And can but by annihilation die."

One of the Greek fables, typifying the struggle of man against circumstances, was a story of the battle between Hercules and Antæus, son of the Earth. The fight was long and doubtful, for whenever the mortal was felled to the ground by the power of the vigorous god, his force was renewed by contact with the breast of his mother Earth, and he sprang to his feet and recommenced the never-ending strife.

Opposing Forces.

Opposing Forces.

Having taken upon ourselves to reform evils, rooted deep in old customs, and to abolish abuses older than our civilization, we have to meet with discouragement and opposition in various forms.

Even the enlightened and well-intentioned hold back incredulous. This form of opposition finally examines, being led thereto from motives of economy and the promptings of humanity; it usually approves and assists, but is often carried back by indolence, when it discovers that it must join us in the loud battle we are forced to wage all along the line against fierce interests and bitter prejudices.

Rationalism in medicine is the method which recognises

Rationalism in medicine is the method which recognises

Rationalism in medicine is the method which recognises

Rationalism in medicine is the method which recognises nature as the great agent in the cure of disease, and employs art as an auxiliary to be resorted to when useful or necessary, and avoided when prejudicial.

In our treatment of the hoof, we would seek to know the cause of the horse's troubles, firmly believing that he is endowed by nature with strength to perform the service man demands of him, and that he is not necessarily a helpless prey to torturing diseases of the minor organs; and, indeed, subject only to that final, unavoidable sentence, which in some form nature holds suspended over all animate existence.

Having by the aid of reason ascertained the cause of defects, we would assist nature to relieve them; we have therefore called this little hand-book of suggestions from our experience, Rational Horse-shoeing.

Final Observations.

Final Observations.

To be rational in any course of action is, primarily, to follow the leading of reason, and by that guidance to arrive at correct conclusions.

It is the opposite to the method which is irrational regardless of reason, and therefore leading to conclusions erroneous and absurd. Rationalism is opposed to ultraism, to vehement, officious and extreme measures while it would seek more excellent ways, it holds fast to that which is good.

PERFECT SHOE AND HOOF.

IMPERFECT SHOE AND HOOF.

That part of the argument which demands that the faithful

That part of the argument which demands that the faithful

That part of the argument which demands that the faithful

The question is so plain that we hesitate to argue with intelligent people to prove that, if the old system of shoeing destroys the value of a horse in middle life, half his money value is sacrificed to ignorance a waste that might be saved were nature's laws regarded. That part of the argument which demands that the faithful, devoted servant merits humane treatment and the best intelligence of the master in securing his health and comfort can not be forgotten and need not be urged upon the attention of the true horseman.

Perfect shoe and hoof

Perfect shoe and hoof

Perfect shoe and hoof

It is an old English saying, that "a good horse will wear out two sets of feet." The meaning of this adage is obvious: a good horse's feet are useless at the time when his other powers are in the prime. Mr. Edward Cottam, of London, in his "Observations upon the Goodenough System," states that London omnibus-owners use up a young horse in four years; that is, a horse of seven years of age goes to the knackers at eleven, pabulum Acherontis; and the only noticeable cause of their failure is from diseases of the feet. A horse properly shod and cared for should endure five times as long. In this country horses fail in the feet, and are called old at an age when they should be in the fullest activity. This is a double loss, for every horseman of experience knows that if an old horse is sound and vigorous he has some great advantages over a young one. He is safer in every respect, "way-wise," seasoned, steady, and reliable. He and his owner are old friends and companions and can not part but with a pang of regret. A good horse, well cared for, should work cheerfully until he is thirty years of age; yet how few are able to perform genteel service after fifteen! It is a sad sight that of the high-mettled, noble animal, once the petted darling of wealth, caressed by ladies and children, and guarded so that even the winds of heaven might not visit him too roughly, fallen through the successive grades of equine degradation, until at last he hobbles before a clam-wagon or a swill-cart a sorry relic of better days.

PERFECT SHOE AND HOOF.

IMPERFECT SHOE AND HOOF.

The value of the horses employed in the

The value of the horses employed in the

The value of the horses employed in the

The value of the horses employed in the actual labor of the country reaches a startling sum total.

The vast importance of the horse in the movement of business, was never so fully understood and deeply felt as during the year past, when the epizoötic swept over the continent, paralyzing all movement and every form of human industry. Even the ships that whiten the seas would furl their sails and steamers quench their fires but for the labors of the horse. During the epidemic the canal-boats waited idly for their patient tow-horses and railroads carried little freight; the crops of the West lay in the farmers' granaries and the fabrics of the Eastern loom and varied products of mechanical industry crowded the warehouses; even the ragpicker in the streets suspended his humble occupation, for the merchant, unable to transport rags, refused to buy them of the gatherer. The investment of national wealth in horses being so enormous, any means that adds to the efficiency of the horse greatly enhances the general prosperity.

A horse-railroad superintendent said to the writer

A horse-railroad superintendent said to the writer

A horse-railroad superintendent said to the writer

A horse-railroad superintendent said to the writer, "We don't wear iron nowadays, we wear frog and cobble-stones; nature provides frog and Boston finds cobble-stones." When the Goodenough shoe is put for the first time upon a dry, half-dead foot, and the frog brought into lively action, growth is generally very rapid. We have often been compelled to reset the shoe, cutting down the wall, in ten days after shoeing. Many horses that have been used upon pavements and horse-railroads, have acquired a habit of slipping and sliding along, catching with heel-calks in the space between the stones; such horses do not at once relinquish the habit, and wear their first set of our shoes much more rapidly than the subsequent set, after they have assumed the natural action of their feet. But, economical as a light shoe that will long outlast a heavy one may be, the great saving is in the item of horse-flesh.

Economy of The Goodenough Shoe.

Economy of The Goodenough Shoe.

A horse-shoe that the united voices or the shrewdest and ablest managers in the country commend inasmuch as it enables cripples to work, frequently restores them, and maintains soundness where that quality exists need not be recommended on the ground of economy. Such a horse-shoe could not be dear. But it takes all sorts of people to make a world, and the pressure to the square inch of mean men is not to be governed by safety-valves or regulated by gauges. There are too many men who will use the thing that costs the least outlay, even if it tortures or kills the horse. On the point of first cost we may say that if our shoe had no advantage over the hand-made shoe in preserving the natural action and growth of the foot, thereby retaining the powers of the animal in full vigor, it would still be cheaper than the common shoe. It is sold slightly higher than the clumsy pieces of bent iron called horse-shoes by mere courtesy, and its lightness gives one-third more shoes to the keg, while there is no expense of calking, which, in labor and material, is equal to three cents per pound. Upon the point of durability, it is well settled that the heavy shoe will not last so long as the light one with frog-pressure. A horse set upon heavy shoes grinds iron every time he moves. The least interposition of the frog will reduce the wear very materially, and if the frog is well on the ground, a horse will carry a shoe until he outgrows it.

Do not carry this treatment to excess

Do not carry this treatment to excess

Do not carry this treatment to excess

Do not carry this treatment to excess. Moderation is the most satisfactory course in all things. Abjure utterly all oils and greasy hoof dressings, they are pernicious recommendations of unreasoning grooms. They fill the pores of the wall, and injure in every way. Nature will find oil, if you will allow circulation and secretion, through the action of the frog.

"Stuffing the feet," is another wretched, groom's device. A horse has a dry, feverish hoof from contraction, so his hollow sole, denuded of its frog, is "stuffed" with heating oil-meal, or nasty droppings of cows. When this sort of thing is proposed, remember Punch's advice to those about to be married, "Don't do it."

Stumbling Horses.

Stumbling Horses.

This annoyance is frequently caused by undue use of the toe, when the heel is lame and sore from contraction and corns. When the horse has the frog well on the ground and uses his heel without shrinking he is not apt to stumble.

In dry weather, or when a horse with a hard, lifeless hoof is shod with the Goodenough shoe, and shrinks from the unaccustomed pressure of the frog on the ground, nothing is so grateful to his feet as cold water. The hose turned on them is a delicious bath; or if he can stand for an hour in a wet place, or in a running brook, he will get infinite comfort from it. We have sometimes rapidly assisted the cure of contraction, in the city, by manufacturing a country brook-bottom in this simple way: Put half a bushel of pebbles into a stout tub, with or without some sand, let them cover the bottom to the depth of two or three inches, pour on water and you have a good imitation of a mountain brook. Put the horse's forefeet into this, and let him bear his weight upon the frog. The first time he will grow uneasy after a few minutes, but when his frog becomes natural in its function he will be glad to stand there all day.

Working up Horses.

Working up Horses.

It is a common practice of large proprietors, engaged on railroad or city work, to buy up horses with unsound feet, unfitted for speed or gentle service, and use them up, as old clothes are put through a shoddy-mill for what wool there is left in them. This cruel policy, under an intelligent system of shoeing, would be impossible, because the vast aggregate of foot diseases would be so abated that horses, sound in general health but creeping upon disabled hoofs, could not be found in droves, as at present, and the speculator in equine misfortune would better serve his selfishness by buying young horses and keeping them sound by a natural system of shoeing.

Interfering And Speedy Cut.

Interfering And Speedy Cut.

If horses were not shod, they would not interfere; it therefore follows that shoeing is the cause of this defect. A contracted hoof, pain from corns, or any inflammation causes a horse to seek a new bearing. In doing this he strikes himself. Blacksmiths make "interfering shoes," welding side-pieces and superfluous calks upon their clumsy contrivances, and sometimes succeed in preventing the symptom, but they never remove the cause. Few horses with natural feet, good circulation, and shod with a light shoe, will ever interfere. In all such cases, take off the heavy shoe, cure the contraction, get an even bearing, and let nature have at least a momentary chance.

Notwithstanding this perfection and strength

Notwithstanding this perfection and strength

Notwithstanding this perfection and strength

Notwithstanding this perfection and strength, many horses bend the knee, and stand, or travel with it bent, until the flexor muscles shrink from lack of use. This "over in the knees" condition is invariably caused by imperfect use of the feet. The effect of heel-calks and their accompaniment of corns, making a sore in each heel, is often indicated by the horse to his regardless owner by bending his knee. The owner asks the smith why he does it, and the smith, who never fails to give a reason, says he has always noticed that horse had "weak knees." We know of a shoer in Worcester County, Massachusetts, who has a wide local reputation for "doctoring" weak knees. He holds that the muscles of the leg in such cases are too short, and have to be lengthened with thick iron heels and calks. It is a favorite theory of this class of shoers that they are able to correct the errors of Providence in the horse's construction, and piece him out with heel-calks and bar-shoes!

Bent Knees Interference, And Speedy Cut.

Bent Knees Interference, And Speedy Cut.

The knee of a horse is a most complicated and beautiful mechanical arrangement, singularly exempt from strain or disease in any form. Bony enlargement, inflammation of the ligaments, do not attack it. The ravage of the shoeing-smith the horse's direst enemy seems to be exhausted upon the feet and the sympathetic pasterns; the concussion of iron and pavement, uncushioned by the frog, will destroy the lower system of joints before the knee can be shaken.

Thrush.

Thrush.

This is a filthy, fetid disease of the frog. By many veterinary writers it is attributed entirely to damp stables, general nasty condition of stall, yard, etc. Mayhew ingenuously remarks, in addition, that it is usually found in animals that "step short or go groggily," and that the hoof is "hot and hard." Youatt comes to the point at once in saying that it is the effect of contraction, and, when established, is also a cause of further contraction. It is manifest in a putrid discharge from the frog. The matter is secreted by the inner or sensible frog, excited to this morbid condition by pressure of contraction. Its cure is simple and easy if the cause is removed. A wash of brine, or chloride of zinc, three grains to the ounce of water, is generally used to correct the foulness.

Contraction, or Drop Sole, With Soreness at The Toe.

Contraction, or Drop Sole, With Soreness at The Toe.

Shoe as previously directed, and rasp or cut the sole and wall at the toe into a slightly hollow shape, so that you could pass a knife-blade between the hoof and shoe. The object of this is to relieve the hoof from pressure at this point. In cases where the toe is thin and weak, or where there is inflammation extending to the point of the frog, remove as much of the sole pressing against the frog as seems feasible, and level the toe-calk, so that the horse will bear upon the frog and side-calks.

It is often well to free a shrunken frog from the binding growth of sole that has closed in upon it, and in cases of contraction, where this is done, a horse will recover the action of the frog with less difficulty than where that organ is sole-bound.

Seedy Toe

Seedy Toe

is then manifest.

The only possible relief from these complications is in natural action. Contraction is not present, but we want circulation, new growth and absorption; we obtain it by dressing the foot smoothly with the rasp and putting the bearing evenly upon the frog and a light shoe, which should be merely a continuation of the wall of the foot. Many very bad cases shod in this way have been relieved. No grease or tar should ever be used.

Drop Sole And Pumiced Foot.

Drop Sole And Pumiced Foot.

This miserable condition of the abused animal is Nature's fiercest protest against the ignorance and carelessness of man. A horse set upon heavy shoes, and those armed with calks at toe and heel, such as are usually inflicted upon large draft-horses, has his whole weight placed upon the unsupported sole. The frog never comes in contact with the earth in any way, inflammation of the sensitive frog and sole takes place, and the arch of the sole bends down under the pressure until the ground surface of the hoof becomes flat or convex, bulging down even lower than the cruel iron that clamps its edge. This is the condition of a drop sole. This degenerate state of the foot has other complications. Active inflammation is often present and all the wretchedness of a pumiced foot the despair of owner and veterinary is experienced. The smith, whose clumsy contrivance has been the cause of all the woe, has abundant reasons to offer for the disease, and his unfailing resort of the "Bar Shoe." This atrocious fetter is supplemented with leather pads, sometimes daubed with tar, and the horse hobbles to his task. Not unfrequently the crust at the front of the hoof sinks in, adhering to the sole; circulation being cut off,

Toe Cracks.

Toe Cracks.

The cause of this defect is the same as in quarter crack. It appears in both fore and hind feet. Clean the crack well, cutting with a sharp knife the dead horn from each side of it; shoe as advised for quarter crack, or for the purpose of getting expansion and natural action of the dead, shelly hoof. The dirt and sand may be kept out of the crack by filling it with balsam of fir, or pine pitch. Keep the horse at regular work.

QUARTER CRACK HALF SHOE.

Quarter And Toe Crack.

Quarter And Toe Crack.

This disease, usually attributed to "heat," "dry weather," "weak feet," etc., is one of the common symptoms of contraction, and can be entirely cured with the greatest ease; nor will it ever recur if the hoof is kept in proper condition.

If the case is recent, shoe as advised in our paragraph upon "Incipient Unsoundness," being sure to cut the heel well down, putting the bearing fully upon the frog and three-quarters of the foot. If the hoof is weak from long contraction and defective circulation, lower the heels and whole wall, until the frog comes well upon the ground, and shoe with a "slipper," or "tip," made by cutting off a light shoe just before the middle calk, drawing it down and lowering the toe-calk partially. This will seem dangerous to those who have not tried it, but it is not so. The horse may flinch a little at first, from his unaccustomed condition, and from the active life that will begin to stir in his dry, hard, and numb foot, but he will enjoy the change. The healing of the crack will be from the coronet down, and it is good practice to cut with a sharp knife just above the split, and to clean all dirt and dead substance out from the point where you cut, downwards. Soaking the feet in water will facilitate a cure by quickening the growth of the hoof; or, a stimulating liniment may be applied to the coronet, to excite more active growth. Bear in mind that expansion is not from the sole upwards, but from the coronet downwards.

Quarter crack full shoe.

When simple contraction shown in the narrow heel

When simple contraction shown in the narrow heel

When simple contraction shown in the narrow heel

When simple contraction shown in the narrow heel, dried and shrunken frog, and "pegging" motion of the horse is the case, our design is at once to restore the natural action of the foot. This must be done by expansion, and that is to be had from frog-pressure, according to the directions in the preceding chapters. If navicular disease has commenced, and the animal is decidedly lame, we have a difficult case. The membrane of this important bone, in some cases of contraction, becomes ulcerated, and the bone itself may be decayed, or adhesion between the coffin-bone and the navicular and pastern may take place. Without expansion there is no possibility of relief; local bleeding, poulticing, and all the drastic drugs of the veterinary will be invoked in vain.

It may seem superfluous to say that the

It may seem superfluous to say that the

It may seem superfluous to say that the

It may seem superfluous to say that the power and action of the horse are greatly restricted by contraction.

The cartilaginous fibre that forms the bulk of the substance of the foot behind the great back sinew is squeezed into narrow space, the working of the joints compressed, and inflammation at the joints, or at the wings of the coffin-bone, is excited; in worse cases navicular disease is established, or, from inadequate circulation, thrush holds possession at the frog, or scratches torment the heels.

Foot, with shell removed.

Simple Cases of Contraction.

Simple Cases of Contraction.

Contraction, in a greater or less degree, is exhibited by all horses, of every grade, that have been shod in the common way, except in those more unfortunate cases that have resulted in a breaking of the arch of the foot, from lack of the natural frog support, when the phenomena of "dropped sole" are found, and the usual accompaniment of "pumiced feet."