250 THE HORSE 



eight or nine inches square when wetted, another five or six inches square, 

 and a still smaller piece, will be sufficient. 



The manure basket is either of the ordinary brown willow work, or of 

 galvanized iron wire. No good stableman should be unprovided with tliis 

 accessory, which enables him to save litter, and also to keep his horse clean 

 and comfortable. 



The stopping box is an oblong box of oak or elm about fifteen to eighteen 

 inches long, nine wide, and six deep. This is filled with fresh cow-dung, 

 mixed witli an equal quantity of clay, to which some stablemen add one- 

 fourth or less of pitch ointment, but the dung is the essential ingredient, its 

 use consisting in its great tendency to keep moist and also to moisten the 

 surface to which it is applied. This is so great that a thin sole or a fungous 

 frog may be readily made to waste away by decomposition if the stopping is 

 applied constantly to them. As much harm is often done by overdoing the 

 stopping as by omitting to use ib altogether. The stopping box is sometimes 

 also made of galvanized iron. 



Leathers are used of the full size sold in the shops, to finally di-ess over 

 the coat of the horse, and also to wipe the saddlery. Like the sponge they 

 form an expensive item in the accounts of the groom. 



Rubbers or dusters, as they are sometimes called, are made of coarse 

 linen, which should be twilled if economy is studied. Calico does not answer 

 the purpose. From six to twelve rubbers, each about two feet square, will 

 be wanted, the number depending upon the extent of the stable. 



Two buckets at the least must be provided for each groom, one being 

 kept for clean water, and the other for washing legs and feet, dirty saddlery, 

 etc. None but well-made oak buckets should be admitted into any stable, 

 although galvanized iron pails are much cheaper. 



The corn sieve is employed to get rid of the dust, which all corn contains, 

 more or less, and also to expose a large surface of it, so that any stones in it 

 may be readily discovered. 



A quartern and a half-quartern measure will be indispensable, both 

 being wanted for oats, and the latter for beans. 



Trimming scissors are necessary, with straight as well as curved 

 blades, to keep down those hairs which cannot be got rid of by pull- 

 ing; as, for example, a few of the strongest in each fetlock. They should 

 never be used where the hand, aided by powdered resin, is able to draw 

 the hair out. 



A singeing lamp, to be used either with naphtha or gas, should form a 

 part of every list of stable implements; for even if the groom is not com- 

 petent to singe the body of the horse, he should, at all events, use it 

 occasionally to keep down the long and loose hairs which keep growing about 

 the jaws, neck, quarters, and legs. If a horse is singed ever so well in 

 October, and even if the operation is repeated in November, he will be 

 rough to the eye in the following month, and in January he will be quite 

 unfit for a gentleman's use. Any groom, however, who has the slightest 

 skill in the use of his hands, can avoid this by skimming over these parts 

 with the lamp; and, indeed, most head-grooms in the present day are able 

 to do without the aid of the professed singer and clipper, by repeated 

 applications of the lamp. 



Oil brushes are required, and also a small can of either neat's-foot or fish 



