276 THE HORSE. 
and stabled animal into the fields without gradually accustoming him to 
the change of climate. The average temperature of our spring nights is 
not more than 40° of Fahrenheit, and frequently this degree of cold is 
united with a keen wind and sharp rain. Even if a hovel is provided, 
the horse is almost sure to get wet before he betakes himself to its pro- 
tection, and its door being necessarily open the wind can enter freely. It 
is therefore found that at all other seasons but the summer quarter two or 
three weeks at least must be devoted to the hardening of the skin to bear 
the climate out of doors. This is done by first of all removing the clothes 
by degrees, avoiding all attempts at dressing, so as to allow the scurf to 
accumulate and protect the skin, and then changing the warm stable for a 
cooler box, which may be closed at first, and day by day left more and 
more open to the weather by admitting the air through its various aper- 
tures. If the horse is of a delicate constitution, and the weather is cold 
and wet, the turning out should be delayed till there should be a change 
for the better, or if it is decided on at all risks the precaution should be 
taken for the first two or three nights to bring him under some dry shelter, 
avoiding, of course, a warm stable, as doubly injurious. 
IN THE CHOICE OF A RUN regard should be paid to the object for which 
it is intended. Sometimes this is for the purpose of removing inflamma- 
tion from the legs and feet, at others it is intended to renovate the general 
health ; while, again, the most frequent reason for pasturing is to save the 
greater expense incurred in the stable. Different kinds of pasture and 
seasons of the year are best fitted for each of these intentions, as we shall 
presently see after examining into the nature of the former. 
UPLAND PASTURE may consist of fine dry enclosures out of floods’ ways, 
where clover and other plants, exactly suited to the constitution of the 
horse, grow in profusion, mixed with the best grasses. In the early 
summer season these are generally put up for mowing, and it is not until 
the aftermath makes its appearance that they are available for grazing. 
Cattle and sheep must be fed somewhere, and a certain portion of grass 
land is kept for them each spring ; but, as a rule, the bulk of adult horses 
are stabled ; and when they are turned out for any particular reason, such 
a time is chosen as will enable the owner to effect his object with the 
least expense. To turr a horse out between May lst and July Ist, ina 
good upland pasture, costs, in most districts, twice as much per week as 
to do so after the latter date ; and, as a consequence, very few leave their 
stables during those two months. Until that time there is no grass for them 
after Christmas, and, if a horse is turned out, he must starve, or be fed on hay. 
It may, therefore, be said, that on uplands the grazing time is from the end 
of the hay harvest, which in the south is generally over in July, and even 
in the north does not extend far into August, to Christmas. In very 
dry seasons there is little growth of aftermath, and when the bite left by 
the scythe is eaten off, the ground is as hard as a turnpike road, and 
there is no “keep” on it. At such times the whole intention of pasturing 
is frustrated ; and not only is the stomach pinched, but the legs and feet 
are damaged by being battered on the dry soil. The feet of wild asses and 
even native Arab horses may be able to bear the blows and friction of the 
wastes over which they travel, but those of English horses are, un- 
doubtedly, not formed of such strong and tough materials, so that it is 
utterly unwise to leave them exposed to the risk. If circumstances 
compel the owner to leave his horse at grass in a dry season on an upland 
pasture, he should have his fore feet carefully provided with tips; and 
even then he will find that if they are at all unsound, he will come home 
