462 EXERCISE. 



When the weather will permit the horse to be taken out, he should never be 

 groomed in the stable, unless he is an animal of peculiar value, or placed for 

 a time under peculiar circumstances. Without dwelling on the want of clean- 

 liness, when the scurf and dust that are brushed from the horse lodge in his 

 manger, and mingle with his food, experience teaches, that if the cold is not 

 too great, the animal is braced and invigorated to a degree that cannot be 

 attained in the stable, from being dressed in the open air. There is no necessity, 

 however, for half the punishment which many a groom inflicts upon the horse 

 in the act of dressing; and particularly on one whose skin is thin and sensible. 

 The curry-comb should at all times be lightly applied. With many horses its 

 use may be almost dispensed with ; and even the brush needs not to be so hard, 

 nor the points of the bristles so irregular as they often are. A soft brush, with 

 a little more weight of the hand, will be equally effectual, and a great deal 

 more pleasant to the horse. A hair-cloth, while it will seldom irritate and 

 tease, will be almost sufficient with horses that have a thin skin, and that have 

 not been neglected. After all, it is no slight task to dress a horse as it ought 

 to be done. It occupies no little time, and demands considerable patience, as 

 well as dexterity. It will be readily ascertained whether a horse has been well 

 dressed by rubbing him with one of the fingers. A greasy stain will detect the 

 idleness of the groom. When, however, the horse is changing his coat, both 

 the curry-comb and the brush should be used as lightly as possible. 



Whoever would be convinced of the benefit of friction to the horse's skin, 

 and to the horse generally, needs only to observe the effects produced by well 

 hand-rubbing the legs of a tired horse. While every enlargement subsides, 

 and the painful stiffness disappears, and the legs attain their natural warmth, 

 and become fine, the animal is evidently and rapidly reviving ; he attacks his 

 food with appetite, and then quietly lies down to rest. 



EXERCISE. 



Our observations on this important branch of stable-management must have 

 only a slight reference to the agricultural horse. His work is usually regular 

 and not exhausting. He is neither predisposed to disease by idleness, nor worn 

 out by excessive exertion. He, like his master, has enough to do to keep him 

 in health, and not enough to distress or injure him : on the contrary, the regu- 

 larity of his work prolongs life to an extent rarely witnessed in the stable of the 

 gentleman. Our remarks on exercise, then, must have a general bearing, or 

 have principal reference to those persons who are in the middle stations of life, 

 and who contrive to keep a horse for business or pleasure, but cannot afford to 

 maintain a servant for the express purpose of looking after it. The first rule 

 we would lay down is, that every horse should have daily exercise. The animal 

 that, with the usual stable feeding, stands idle for three or four days, as is the 

 case in many establishments, must suffer. He is predisposed to fever, or to grease, 

 or, most of all, to diseases of the foot ; and if, after three or four days of inac- 

 tivity, he is ridden far and fast, he is almost sure to have inflammation of the 

 lungs or of the feet. 



A gentleman 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. 



How then is this exercise to be given ? As much as possible by, or under the 

 superintendence of, the owner. The exercise given by the groom is rarely to 

 be depended upon. It is inefficient or it is extreme. It is in many cases both 



