116 STABLE ECONOMY. 



must do this. The legs of some horses are apt to smell or to 

 itch, particularly when they stand idle for a day or two. 

 Others, cold-blooded, long-legged horses, are troubled with 

 cold legs while standing in the stall. These things are 

 generally disregarded among coarse horses ; if they disappear, 

 it is well, if not, they are neglected till they become more 

 formidable. But little evils of this kind often produce much 

 annoyance to those who own horses of greater value. It is 

 difficult to avoid them altogether among horses that are not in 

 good condition, loaded with fat, or plethoric ; yet, frequei.t 

 hand-rubbing does much. Some grooms give it five or six 

 times a-day ; so much is seldom required, indeed never, ex- 

 cept under disease : but it does no harm that I know of, if it 

 do not make the heels too bare. To be of any use, it must 

 be done in a systematic manner and in good earnest. If the 

 horse be perfectly quiet, the man will sit down on his knees, 

 and, with a small soft wisp, or cloth-rubber in each' hand, he 

 will rub upward and downward, or he will use his hands 

 without the wisp, particularly if the hair be fine and short ; 

 much force is not necessary, indeed it is pernicious. In 

 coining down the leg, the pressure should be light ; and in 

 passing upward, it must not be so great as to raise or break 

 the hairs. 



Many stablemen perform this simple operation always in 

 the same way ; they pass over the leg as if they merely meant 

 to smooth or lay the hair. To polish the hair, if that be all 

 which is required, this is sufficient. But to stimulate the 

 skin, to clean it, to disperse gourdiness, and to excite the 

 secretion by which the hair is anointed, there must be some 

 friction, some rubbing against or across the hair, as well as 

 along it ; the hollow of the pastern has most need of this, and 

 there the rubbing should be across the hair, with the palm of 

 the hand. When the legs are cold, as they generally are in 

 inflammatory diseases of internal organs, it is usual to raise 

 some degree of heat in them by hand-rubbing. For effecting 

 this the friction must be considerable. The hands, one on 

 each side of the leg, must pass rapidly upward and downward, 

 and with a moderate degree of pressure. When necessary t,o 

 do this, the hair is broken, rubbed out, or raised into curls, 

 but in such cases this must in general be disregarded ; at other 

 times the friction need not be so great, and should not. 



After a day of severe and protracted exertion, gentle and 

 frequent friction is very useful for restoring the legs, and for 

 preventing the cold swelling to which the legs of many horses 



