the animal calking
himself with it. I have carefully observed the different effect of
shoes, while with troops on the march. I accompanied the Seventh
Infantry, in 1858, in its march to Cedar Valley, in Utah, a distance of
fourteen hundred miles, and noticed that scarcely a man who wore
regulation shoes had a blister on his feet, while the civilians, who did
not, were continually falling out, and dropping to the rear, from the
effects of narrow and improper shoes and boots. The same is the case
with the animal. The foot must have something flat and broad to bear on.
The first care of those having charge of mules, should be to see that
their feet are kept in as near a natural state as possible. Then, if all
the laws of nature be observed, and strictly obeyed, the animal's feet
will last as long, and be as sound in his domestic state as he would be
in a state of nature.

The most ordinary observer will soon find that the outer portion or
covering of the mule's foot possesses very little animal life, and has
no sensibility, like the hair or covering of the body. Indeed, the foot
of the horse and mule is a dense block of horn, and must therefore be
influenced and governed by certain chemical laws, which control the
elements that come in contact with it. Hence it was that the feet of
these animals was made to bear on the hard ground, and to be wet
naturally every time the horse drank. Drought and heat will contract and
make hard and brittle the substance of which the feet is composed; while
on the other hand cooling and moisture will expand it, and render it
pliable and soft. Nature has provided everything necessary to preserve
and protect this foot, while the animal is in a natural state; but when
brought into domestic use, it requires the good sense of man, whose
servant he is, to artificially employ those means which nature has
provided, to keep it perfectly healthy.

When, then, the foot is in a healthy state, wet it at least twice a day;
and do not be content with merely throwing cold water on the outside,
for the foot takes in very little if any moisture through the wall. In
short, it absorbs moisture most through the frog and sole, particularly
in the region where the sole joins the wall. This, if covered by a tight
shoe, closes the medium, and prevents the proper supply. Horses that are
shod should be allowed to stand in moist places as much as possible. Use
clay or loam floors, especially if the horse has to stand