CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



the cloth may be thrown over him, and he may be 

 tied to his stall. The cloth used in summer 

 should be lighter than that used in winter. It is 

 customary for grooms to exercise horses with the 

 stable-cloths wrapped round them, and then per- 

 haps the next hour they are taken out saddled, 

 and without any cloth at all. This seems an 

 inconsistency. The use of cloths is to protect 

 the animal's loins from cold, and is unnecessary 

 in fine weather. If the horse has to stand still 

 out of doors, and the weather be ungenial, his 

 loins ought by all means to be protected by an 

 oiled cloth. The horse is very susceptible of 

 injury by exposure of the loins ; and it will be 

 observed that, to shelter that part, cavalry soldiers 

 wear a long riding-cloak, which falls loosely over 

 the hinder part of the animal. 



Nature gives the horse a beautiful flowing tail 

 and mane, for the purpose of whisking off flies, and 

 for other uses ; but mankind, in taking the crea- 

 ture under their protection, have in many instances, 

 and for no good reason, as far as we are aware, 

 deprived it of these graceful personal append- 

 ages. The most contemptible piece of this rash 

 interference has been the docking of the tail, and 

 causing it to cock up, thus leaving the rear of the 

 animal exposed. The tail should be left flowing 

 to a point, and only trimmed to a limited extent ; 

 and the same thing may be said of the mane. 

 Nature has likewise given the animal long hairs 

 on the legs independently of the fetlocks. These 

 various appendages have likewise not been given 

 unnecessarily ; they answer as a kind of thatch to 

 carry off the moisture which trickles down the 

 legs, so as to keep the feet dry and the legs warm. 

 These parts, therefore, should be trimmed spar- 

 ingly ; and the fouler the animal's work, the more 

 should be left on. Any trimming should be exe- 

 cuted tastefully with a comb and pair of scissors. 

 It is customary to clip away the long hairs about 

 the ears and muzzle, but this also must be per- 

 formed with great discretion. These hairs have 

 their uses, those about the ears in particular, and 

 harm is not unfrequently done by their removal. 



Management of the Feet. 



When the horse has been stabled for the night, 

 it will be the duty of the groom to see that the 

 hoofs, above and below, have been cleaned, par- 

 ticles of sand removed from the crevices of the 

 shoes, and the feet generally in a good condition. 

 The feet have a tendency to harden and crack, 

 and thus a good horse may become lame. The 

 fore-feet are most liable to this serious evil To 

 prevent hardness and soreness of feet, it is cus- 

 tomary to stop them at night with a soft moist 

 material most commonly cow-dung, mixed with 

 oil, lard, or tar. No special directions on this 

 point can be given ; for some thin-soled horses do 

 not require stopping, and the hind-feet are seldom 

 in need of anything of the kind. When the frog 

 is liable to thrush, the feet require to be kept dry, 

 and cleaned and attended to with peculiar care. 

 To prevent over-dryness of hoofs, as well as the 

 undue action of moisture, it is advisable to anoint 

 the horny part of the feet with an ointment made 

 of tar, fish-oil, and bees-wax, melted together in 

 equal proportions ; but this should not be done 

 unless it is absolutely required. If well washed, 

 and kept clean, the feet will seldom require any of 

 this kind of varnishing. 



618 



When at large in a wild state, horses, as may 

 be supposed, go barefooted, like all the other 

 lower animals. The hoofs grow with a. slight 

 curve up in front ; but this does not seem to 

 impair their speed. If domesticated horses were 

 always to walk on turf, and were not obliged to 

 carry or draw a weight, their feet might remain 

 unshod ; but the circumstances of their condition 

 make it necessary to protect the hoofs from tear 

 and wear by means of shoes. Horse-shoes have 

 been used of many different shapes and materials ; 

 but it is needless here to speak of any others than 

 the iron shoes in common use. The shoe must 

 be of weight conformable to the powers and uses 

 of the animal, made exactly to suit the curve of 

 the hoof, flat, and of equal thickness, and secured 

 by nails to the hoof. The proper paring of the 

 hoof before shoeing, and the shoeing itself, are 

 matters to be left to the discretion of regular far- 

 riers. As a general principle, care must be taken 

 not to drive the nails into any tender part, and 

 the hoof should be as little broken as possible. A 

 gentleman's horse should be shod at regular inter- 

 vals of three or four weeks, and a shoe never 

 suffered to come off from too long usage. 



Exercise. 



Every horse, when not worked, ought to be exer- 

 cised daily in the open air. The exercise should 

 be in the early part of the day. An authority 

 already quoted (Lib. Use. Know.} observes : ' The 

 horse that, with the usual stable-feeding, stands 

 idle for three or four days, as is the case in many 

 establishments, must suffer. He is disposed to 

 fever, or to grease, or, most of all, to diseases of 

 the foot ; and if, after these three or four days of 

 inactivity, he is ridden fast and far, is almost sure 

 to have inflammation of the lungs or of the feet. A 

 gentleman's or tradesman's horse suffers a great 

 deal more from idleness than he does from work. 

 A stable-fed horse should have two hours' exercise 

 every day, if he is to be kept free from disease. 

 Nothing of extraordinary, or even of ordinary 

 labour can be effected on the road or in the field 

 without sufficient and regular exercise. It is this 

 alone which can give energy to the system, or 

 develop the powers of any animal In training 

 the hunter and the race-horse, regular exercise is 

 the most important of all considerations, however 

 it may be forgotten in the usual management of 

 the stable. The exercised horse will discharge his 

 task, and sometimes a severe one, with ease and 

 pleasure, while the idle and neglected one will be 

 fatigued ere half his labour be accomplished ; and 

 if he be pushed a little too far, dangerous inflamma- 

 tion will ensue. How often, nevertheless, does it 

 happen that the horse which has stood inactive in 

 the stable three or four days, is ridden or driven 

 thirty or forty miles in the course of a single day I 

 This rest is often purposely given, to prepare foi 

 extra exertion to lay in a stock of strength for the 

 performance of the task required of him ; and then 

 the owner is surprised and dissatisfied if the animal 

 is fairly knocked up, or, possibly, becomes seri- 

 ously iU. Regular and gradually increasing exer- 

 cise would have made the same horse appear a 

 treasure to his owner. Exercise should be some- 

 what proportioned to the age of the horse, 

 young horse requires more than an old one 

 Nature has given to young animals of every kinc 

 a disposition to activity ; but the exercise must nc 



