When we remember how usefully horses are employed for our advantage, how generously and willingly they work, and how docile and obedient they are when properly treated, we shall begin to see that the trade of the Farrier is one which should be studied very carefully, and that nobody should follow the business who has not become tolerably skilful. The Farrier who shoes the horses, is very often consulted when those animals are ill, so that he should have some knowledge of simple remedies in cases when the veterinary surgeon lives at a distance, or is out of the way. Especially the Farrier should thoroughly understand the construction of the horse’s hoof, which, hard and simple as it may look, is very delicate, and is composed of several important parts. One thing should never be forgotten in shoeing a horse,—first that, although the hoof is a hard horny covering, it has an inside portion which is very tender and liable to be hurt; and secondly, that the hoof itself expands as the weight of the horse presses upon it. [Illustration: Anvil. Stool. Staple. Pointing Stake. Punch. Shoe.] [Illustration: Nippers. Drawing Knife. Rasp. Buffer.] The Farrier’s shed is fitted with a forge, or furnace where the iron is heated, and in which the fire is blown to great heat by the huge bellows fastened above it; it also contains an _anvil_, on which the _horseshoes_ are made or shaped, a _stool_ on which the Farrier sometimes sits to examine a horse’s hoof, and _staples_ and _rings_, to which the horses’ heads are fastened by halters during the process of shoeing. When a horse is taken to be shod, the Farrier should begin by taking off one of the old shoes. He first raises the clenches with a tool called the _buffer_ and if the shoe does not then come off easily, loosens some of the nails with the _punch_, till it can be gently removed. When the shoe is off he rasps the edge of the hoof all round, and with the _nippers_ or pincers takes out any stubs that may be left in the hoof. He then pares the hard portions of the foot, and this is an operation which requires great care and skill as well as a good deal of practice in the use of the _drawing knife_. The Farrier must always remember the state of the roads when he is paring the horse’s feet, for if the roads are dry and stony he must take off very little of the horn, or the foot will be bruised. [Illustration: Fulter. Damper. Slice. Pretchel. Swage. Tongs. Turning Hammer.]