242 THE HORSE. 
it in a hothouse, will anderstand that it is not to be allowed to come in 
contact with fluid, and especially urine, or decomposition will quickly 
supervene. The cost is seldom more than that incurred in carting it, 
which will depend upon the distance from the nearest tan-yard. 
Forest Lravzs are not readily procurable except in some very few 
localities, and I may therefore dismiss them with the remark that there 
is no objection to their use with which I am acquainted. Ponies at all 
events may be comfortably bedded with them. 
Bean Straw is far too hard and unyielding to make a comfortable 
bed, and if it must be used I should prefer cutting it into chaff rather than 
employing it in this way. 
DRESSING, OR GROOMING. 
By THE TERM DressiNe@ is generally understood the purification of the 
skin which the horse requires. He is never in the highest health unless 
the pores are kept free from the scurf which forms on them whenever he 
sweats, and the object of the strapping which he receives at the hands of 
his groom is to get rid of this mechanical obstruction, as well as to brace 
the nerves of the surface by the friction of the brush or whisp. This 
dressing must be renewed daily, even if the horse has not been sweated, 
and each time that he comes in from work it is necessary to repeat it. 
The former operation is or should be conducted in the same manner every 
day, but the latter will vary according to the state of the animal when he 
comes in, that is to say, depending upon whether he has been sweated 
and is cool again, or if he is still wet, or has been in the rain with or 
without exercise enoughfto warm him, or lastly, if he has been ridden or 
driven through dirty roads or over a deep country. Each of these condi- 
tions will therefore require a separate consideration. 
THE USUAL MORNING'S DRESSING is commenced either as soon as the 
horse has done his early feed, or on coming in from exercise, if such 
is allowed or enjoined. ‘The utility of grooming after work cannot 
be denied, for it would be absurd to contend that a horse coming in wet 
and dirty should be left in that state till the next day ; but it is perhaps 
necessary to explain to the idle groom that it is not a mere polishing of 
the surface of the coat which is wanted, but a deep steady pressure of the 
brush into the roots of the hair, so as to remove all the scurf which 
collects around them and clogs the pores, through which the sweat ought 
to be allowed to exude freely. Practically it is found that an hour’s good 
strapping daily, not only gives a polish to the coat, but it causes the 
secretion of a fine oil, which has a tendency to throw off water, and thus 
may save the horse exposed to the rain from catching cold. Moreover, it 
certainly stimulates the nerves so as to enable them to bear exposure to 
the weather, which would otherwise tell injuriously on an animal which 
is covered up with thick clothing in-doors, and stripped of everything, 
even of the long coat which nature gives him, when he is submitted to the 
“pelting of the pitiless storm.” When the horse is turned out to grass, 
he is washed by every shower of rain, and though his coat continues to 
look dirty on the surface, yet the skin itself is braced by the winds and 
cleansed by the waters of heaven. Not so, however, in-doors. Here his 
clothing keeps his coat short, and keeps up a continual state of insensible 
perspiration, the watery particles of which pass off through the woollen 
Tug or serge, leaving the salts and animal matters behind, as is apparent on 
