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Tlic Country Gaitlcuiaiis Magazine 



of future generations, adopt as their system 

 the plan of placing horses, whether ill or well, 

 and however differently they may have been 

 previously managed, in sheds with nothing but 

 the tiled roof for a covering, and one or more 

 sides being left open. Nay, in some instances 

 we have seen the roof supported on pillars, and 

 the animals exposed to the winds from the four 

 points of the compass; and by a strange 

 perversion of sense — this, too, is called 

 natural. The horse, in the only condition 

 ever seen by us, that of domestication, is so 

 completely subordinate to control, that the 

 case of only a few other animals is compar- 

 able in the study of its instincts ; yet com- 

 parisons help, and are necessary for instruc- 

 tion. 



Wild animals have their feeding grounds 

 and abodes more or less distant from each 

 other, according to requirements, and the 

 capability of the order to travel in search of 

 food. The deer holds to its mountain or 

 forest retreat, and goes forth to the valley for 

 food; the hare also goes from her home, 

 and even into the cottager's garden, to satisfy 

 her appetite ; but when the sportsman starts 

 either the fox from its kennel or the hare 

 from her form, they are cleaner and drier than 

 know we should how to keep either under 



artificial custody ; and if their footsteps be 

 tracked while they are running at full speed, 

 the deep, sharp imprints of their toe nails Avill 

 be obvious in every step ; and to the firmness 

 and strength of those nails their speed and 

 lasting power is in great measure due. 



Returning to the consideration of the horse, 

 which is altogether dependent on the under- 

 standing and discretion of its master for 

 tolerable existence, if turned on to a bleak 

 bog at one season, and into a fold-yard, ankle 

 deep with wet dung, during another, he 

 is helpless : a five-barred gate, and posts 

 and rails, mark the boundary of his confine- 

 ment. 



Wet and dryness are relative conditions. 

 The question involved is one of degree. 

 Horses' hoofs are not penetrated by wet until 

 after some time of exposure to it, when they 

 are weakened, and under exertion alterations 

 ensue, which incapacitates thewholefoot for its 

 natural functions. Men can work for many 

 hours together in the rain, and their hands 

 not be affected, but very different is the case 

 of washerwomen's hands, which, after many 

 hours' immersion, become intolerant of 

 water ; the sense of touch for the time is im- 

 paired, and the nails fail to fulfil their ofiice 

 in giving support to the finger point. 



